


All that matters is what we do

by dutchmoxie



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, F/M, Minor Character Death, Vampire Slayer(s), Vampires, Werewolves, Witches, that Buffy/Teen Wolf AU I've been talking about for weeks now
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-03-24
Updated: 2015-08-05
Packaged: 2018-03-19 11:16:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 49,739
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3608094
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dutchmoxie/pseuds/dutchmoxie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It isn't easy being Clarke Griffin. Sure, she's good with a bow, but she has to keep her awesome hunter skills from everyone. Including her best friend O and O's superhot brother. But in Arktown, everyone has secrets. The full moon brings everything to light...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. New Moon Rising

**Author's Note:**

  * For [AliceInSomewhereland](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AliceInSomewhereland/gifts).



PART ONE

Her heart was pounding, her bow at her back as she gave chase to the creature ahead of her. It was running on four legs, and she was not going to be able to match its speed for long. But that was why she hunted smart, not fast. The beast was heading straight into a trap of her own making, right at the edge of the forest. She knew these woods like the back of her hand - the wolf did not stand a chance.

They never did. Not against Clarke Griffin.

It howled when the trap clamped down on its front paws, and while the sound still chilled her, she did not show any fear as she drew her bow and approached. She simply breathed in through her nose, and out through her mouth, trying to anchor her hand on her cheekbone - she needed to hit it right on the first try.

Breathe in, and out. Breathe in, visualize the arrow hitting its mark, and -

“Don’t you dare!” a familiar voice shouted.

Between her and her target stood a tall  woman, her long hair partly braided. She carried no weapons, but she had a menacing air about her. She was also Clarke’s best friend.

“Octavia?” she still kept her eye on the target. “What are you doing here? Get away from the wolf! It’s dangerous!”

This was the worst possible time for Octavia to come and hang out. Sure, Clarke had missed her best friend - O had been suspiciously secretive lately - but this was so totally not the time to catch up on the latest gossip.

“Clarke, don’t shoot him!” Octavia urged her to put the bow down. “It’s Bellamy. He got out somehow!”

Bellamy? What did Bellamy Blake have to do with any of this? Clarke knew that Octavia’s brother did not like her being out alone at night, especially not on the night of the full moon, but the Blake siblings had no idea of what went bump in the night. And it was Clarke’s task to protect them.

But Bellamy was what? He got out of what? And what did that have to do with the wolf who was still caught in her trap, mewling pathetically?

“What the hell?” none of this made sense to her.

Her best friend then took out a gun - it looked like a tranquilizer gun but she couldn’t be quite sure from this distance - and fired a single shot at the wolf. Every muscle in its gigantic body seemed to relax. So it was a tranq gun.

Why did her best friend walk around with a tranq gun hidden under her jacket? Where did she even learn how to shoot a gun? And why did she not kill the wolf when she had the chance?

“We should probably talk,” Octavia turned away from the monster.

“A tranq gun, O?” she started rambling. “You just shot a werewolf with a tranq gun? Why didn’t you kill him? He’s just going to kill someone else on the next full moon.”

Oh, she probably should not have used the w-word. Civilians usually responded rather oddly to that, and while she was starting to doubt that her best friend was just another civilian, it was a huge leap from a tranq gun to an actual real-life werewolf.

“I am not killing my brother!” Octavia had raised her voice.

“Bellamy is a werewolf?” her eyes widened and she finally dropped her bow.

Well, there went that crush. Her mother would actually kill her.

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“Slayer comma the,” Octavia intoned calmly. “Also: The Chosen One. She who stands alone against the forces of darkness.”

Well, that explained some of it, mostly the way Octavia had been avoiding her lately, and the way her friend had suddenly gotten so athletic. Like, Octavia was never the last chosen in gym class, but now she was the first. Maybe now Clarke did not have to hold back either.

“So you kill the bad guys?” she tried to verify her assumptions.

“Yes,” Octavia casually twirled a wooden stake between her fingers. “Just the bad guys.”

There was a pointed look in her direction, and she tried really hard not to look at the equipment cage, where her friend’s brother was still very much an animal, rattling the bars with his feral strength. Sure, a strong boyfriend was a plus in her profession, but she was sure that her mom and dad were not exactly clueless enough to miss the obvious “I’m friends with a werewolf” signs. And there were no exceptions, not for a family of hunters.

“The Slayer,” she let the words roll off her tongue. “So that story is real.”

She had heard stories of this mythical creature, always a young woman who never looked the same. So either the legends changed depending on who told them, or there were multiple women bearing the title.

“I got Called a few months ago,” Octavia said, and she spoke the word so reverently that Clarke knew that they were not talking about a simple phone call. “Indra found me and explained everything.”

Indra, as in their new gym teacher? The harsh woman whose every sentence ended with an implied ‘and fuck you’? Sure, the woman was fit and knew how take the girls in the class to a whole other level, but she was not exactly known for exuding kindness and patience. Clarke was unable to picture her explaining Octavia anything, let alone the hours upon hours of facts about the things that went bump in the night.

“Don’t give me that look,” Octavia knew her too well. “Most of it was in books. Indra is here for all the practical stuff, like the combat training. Speaking of, how did you go from awkward dork to perfect shot with that bow? You would have shot my brother in the eye if I hadn’t stopped you.”

Okay, so Octavia wasn’t the only one who’d been lying about her abilities. Clarke never acted like she was terrible at PE, but she made damn sure that she did not stand out - that would be too suspicious. She was the daughter of Abigail and Jacob Griffin after all. She was supposed to be an upstanding citizen and maybe follow in her mother’s footsteps and become a doctor. That was what most people expected of her.

Her parents expected even more; with a strict regimen of exercise and target practice, they had turned their only child into a killing machine.

“My dad’s been giving me lessons,” she really tried to shrug it off.

Damn it, she really hated that she had to lie to her best friend. Surely there was a way that she could come out of this without revealing the big family secret. Revealing the family secret carried the penalty of… Yeah, she didn’t even want to consider that. But still, hadn’t she already disappointed her parents by not killing the wolf?

Telling Octavia seemed like the reasonable thing. Her parents never had to know. She was going to need O’s help with hiding Bellamy’s periodical furriness. With this and all of the chains, her life had just gotten a lot weirder - and maybe kinkier.

“O, I’m a Griffin,” she sighed, finally letting the truth spill out. “We hunt those who hunt us. That’s the code, and I have to stick to it. My parents will be furious if they found out I told you. They will be even more angry if they find out I let Bellamy escape.”

Clarke did not want to picture her mother’s wrath, and especially not her father’s. She was a daddy’s girl through and through, and she never wanted to disappoint Jake Griffin. But most of all, she wanted to have it all. She did not want to choose between her best friend and her family, even though she probably had to.

“So I should just let you kill my brother?” Octavia made it very clear whose side she was on.

Said brother was only just starting to stir, and being that she was trying to keep her distance from the cage, she was not entirely sure if he had turned human again. There was a groan coming from the cage that was almost animalistic.

“That’s not what I’m saying, O,” she closed her eyes, trying to focus on finding the exact words she needed to say. “I’m saying that I’m lying to my parents and I don’t like it. But I will keep your secret. I will keep Bellamy’s secret.”

There was no other way. She would just do whatever she could to make sure that her family never found out about this. She would choose her friend, and her… crush? She was never quite sure where she and Bellamy stood, even though she’d had this stupid crush on him since her sixteenth birthday. It had been almost two years, and yet… Nothing.

A clang on the bars of the cage forcefully drew her from her thoughts.

“What the hell were you thinking, Griffin?” the man himself was a man again.

She did not even notice him turning. The moon must have set while she was arguing with Octavia.

“I didn’t exactly know it was you,” she whirled around, furious about his allegations now that she had vowed to keep him safe. “I’m sorry, next time I’m killing werewolves I’ll make sure to ask them their names first. That should give them just enough time to RIP MY THROAT OUT!”

Ah yes, this was familiar terrain. She could do this; fighting like cats and dogs over everything from trivialities to life and death concerns. Everything about this was a-okay, except for the fact that she was facing off against a naked Bellamy Blake, chained inside the equipment cage.

“I’m sorry your kind doesn’t check,” Bellamy was gearing up for an even bigger fight, “to see if a wolf is actually evil before you shoot it in the FUCKING EYE!”

Ah yes, because he was the kind werewolf who never killed anyone? Her family had never heard that story before, not once in their generations filled with fighting the good fight. Seriously! The excuse was stale and stupid and she couldn’t believe he would try it.

“Screw you,” without another look at his blanket-covered body she turned on her heel and left.

It was time to go home and lie some more.

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The lights were still on in the Griffin house, as always, even though the sun was already peeking through the clouds. Her mother had just gotten home from working the night shift, and it seemed like her father never slept. He did his best work at night, he’d always said when his colleagues at the newspaper asked about it. Jake Griffin was always available for nightly tips - and always first on scene when something suspicious sounded on the police scanner.

Yes, there were a lot of criminals on PCP running around town, if the local Gazette was to be believed.

“Why didn’t you check in, Clarke?” Abby Griffin was already in a mood. “You know you are supposed to check in when you go out alone!”

Her parents gave her a pretty lousy present for her seventeenth birthday last year: she was finally allowed to go out on hunts alone, on a trial basis, and on the condition that she always checked in with them regularly. She had yet to break the rules at any point, since she usually went out with her childhood friend Wells - he was a teenage hunter like her, so she figured that would make it easier. Until he developed this awkward crush on her that made her want to hunt alone. It just… Her former friend just made her uncomfortable now. She always felt like she was making his crush worse by being around him. And she just did not want to give him the wrong idea. She just didn’t like him like that.

“I’m sorry,” she tried so hard not to sound too hostile. “This one just led me on a merry chase around the woods. That’s why it took so long.”

Technically that wasn’t so much a lie as an omission of facts. She was led around most of the woods - because after she followed Bellamy to the spot where she almost shot him, Octavia led her through the woods. They ran together, dragging the unconscious wolf form of O’s brother between them. The woods were always the safest route to school when you were dragging a body along - she knew that from experience.

“Did you kill it?” her father asked it so matter-of-factly.

It. Bellamy Blake, a real-life person and her real-life almost friend, was reduced to “it,” just by virtue of being a werewolf. He no longer counted as a real person because someone, or something, had bitten him and infected him with a poison he could not be healed from. Shit, she’d never thought about what that must feel like.

“It won’t hurt anyone ever again,” she tried not to lie outright.

Bellamy was never going to hurt anyone - O would never let that happen. That should have made her feel better, but instead she was still stuck with that unsettling feeling in her gut that told her that she had just successfully lied to her parents about the hunt. She had never done that before, not ever. The hunt was more important than ego - but it was not more important than the lives of her friends.

“Now can I be excused?” her voice seemed different to her ears - shaky, uncertain. “I have a lot of homework I want to finish before school starts.”

“Don’t work too hard,” her father smiled at her. “I know you want everything to be perfect, but even us Griffins need sleep.”

Solidarity and respect, the foundations her family was built on - that and the gruesome killing of any and all supernaturals. She used to think that their motto meant that they went after the creatures who went after humans, but ever since Wells’ mother died, the code had changed.

She wondered if there was anything that she could do to make it change back.

“Oh, Octavia called here a few minutes ago,” her mom was just saying that now. “She said that she had something urgent to discuss with you. You know what I told you: homework first.”

“Yes mom,” she smiled like a good daughter.

With another deep breath, she turned around and moved in the direction of her room. She was going to need a few minutes to settle down before she even considered starting on the little homework that she still had left. This night had gotten so far out of hand.

_Buzz, buzz._

_1 new message: Bellamy Blake_

_Can we talk?_

Not this too. Talking to Bellamy after that epic fight was just about the last thing that she was in the mood for at this point. They were just going to end up yelling at each other, even over text or through the phone.

_You’re already talking to me._

_Clever. Can we talk face to face? Say, in half an hour?_

_I’m not leaving the house. I have school in two hours._

Yeah, her parents were going to be thrilled by their daughter sneaking out to meet the werewolf she supposedly killed. It was just not going to happen.

_Before school? I’ll drive you._

_Fine. Don’t be late._

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“Thanks for not killing me,” was the first thing out of Bellamy’s mouth when he pulled over to the curb on his stupid motorcycle.

The werewolf had a motorcycle - somewhere, fate, the cruel bitch, was laughing at all of them from her location up in the clouds. A werewolf on a bike, taking the good little blonde somewhere she probably wasn’t supposed to go. That was the old story, and it was wrong, because Clarke Griffin was no Red Riding Hood.

“Please return the favor when you drive this deathtrap,” she glibly responded.

Though the butterflies in her stomach were not because she was in any way scared of the stupid bike. Nope, that was all Bellamy. No matter how angry she was at him, he just always managed to make her stomach flutter and her pulse quicken.

“I have a feeling you’re the lethal one,” Bellamy was impatiently waiting for her to just put on the ugly helmet. “Didn’t you want to be on time?”

She growled at him and pulled the hot pink helmet over her head - O had bought it for her brother as a lame joke, not expecting that he would not give a damn about it. Bellamy thought it was quite entertaining that Clarke got so annoyed at looking like motorcycle Barbie - so he kept it around.

“Hold on tight,” he was probably winking at her from behind his visor.

There was no other option, she had to cling to him while he peeled off into traffic. Someday she was going to die on this damn thing and end up in hell - for lying to her parents and taking up with the hot werewolf. Which reminded her….

“This is no way to talk,” she hollered at him over the sound of traffic. “I’m not going to shout this stuff at you. That would be dangerous, not to mention unprofessional.”

“Don’t worry,” Bellamy did not appear to be all that troubled. “We’re almost here.”

They were still going in the direction of her school, but she was pretty certain that they would be making a quick stop first, somewhere else. Someplace where they could talk about werewolves and hunters and Slayers without being overheard, hopefully. Someplace where they could be alone - and this was not the time for her teenage fantasies about the cute werewolf in the leather jacket.

“Of course you’d take me to the park,” she muttered when he pulled over. “Now where’s your leash? I can’t take you anywhere without it.”

Yes, she had to make a stupid dog park joke, one which he mostly ignored while he parked the bike at the curb. The middle-aged women in the park with their children looked at them with concern - only to shoot Bellamy almost lustful glances when they thought he was not looking. He probably looked like a sexy distraction to them, with his stupid leather jacket and his worn jeans. Not that she noticed, or anything.

“Let’s not go to the dog park,” Bellamy gently steered her away from the dogs.

Every single dog, ranging from tiny chihuahua to a giant German shepherd, was growling at Bellamy. Clearly dogs and werewolves did not get along - she wondered why that had not been written in the many books she’d read on the topic.

“So, when did this start happening?” she asked, sitting down on a random bench.

“The dogs?” Bellamy sat down next to her, just a little too close for comfort, their legs brushing slightly. “Probably the day after I got bitten. I’m not around dogs a lot, so it’s not like I checked.”

It was probably a bad idea to think of how close they were right now. But this was Bellamy Blake, and he smelled nice and their knees were bumping and he was actually sharing a personal story with her. Apart from the whole werewolf thing, this was basically her dream come true. Yes, it was wonderfully normal, just sitting on a bench with the cutest guy (who cared if he was a few, or five, years older than she?).

But she would like some answers.

She had been wracking her brain, trying to figure out when Octavia got called, and when Bellamy had been bitten. Surely the two did not coincide. Octavia’s secrecy started months ago - had Bellamy really been a wolf for that long? Had she just not noticed that all the times that she hung out at O’s house and he was right there?

He had been protective over Clarke for so long, but she did know it had gotten worse lately. She figured that it was just the reports about missing girls worrying him, but maybe it had been about him finding out what was truly out there after the sun had set. Maybe he was so protective because he needed to keep her from his own monster.

“How long?” she asked, unsure and already tired.

This was not how she had always imagined it. She had dreamed of him, had dreamed of sitting together, watching the sunrise as they shared their secrets. This was not like that, romantic as the atmosphere might have been. Or at least, she thought that this was romantic, sitting close together on a bench in the early morning light, sharing stories. Bellamy probably saw this as an awkward outing with his kid sister’s best friend.

“A few months,” Bellamy shrugged, trying hard to act careless. “I noticed O wasn’t acting right, and when I saw her sneaking out one night, I followed her. Probably wasn’t a great idea, because I only got five feet into the woods before something grabbed me.”

Bellamy was staring at his hands, focusing all his attention on keeping them from turning into claws - at least, that was her best guess. It had not been that long since the full moon, maybe he was still feeling a little feral. She wouldn’t know, since the books did not exactly focus on the inner turmoil of the wolf - there were separate chapters on every single way a wolf could be killed, though.

No wonder Bellamy was uncomfortable around her now. The stupid young hunter girl who had a stupid crush on him but still tried to kill him.

“And it bit you,” she summarized what followed.

“I woke up with a gaping wound on my neck,” Bellamy was still failing to pull off the careless persona. “O was looking down on me and her scary Watcher was holding a crossbow. She was just as fond of me as you were.”

Low blow, Blake. That was a low fucking blow, and he probably knew it!

“Screw you,” she felt for the small knife in her belt - just for security.

“You tried to kill me,” Bellamy was no longer awkward. “You almost turned me into a pincushion.”

Yes, she almost did. Because that was what she was supposed to do. Griffins killed monsters, no matter whose face they were wearing.

“I didn’t know it was you,” she raised her arms in frustration. “Is this what you wanted to talk about so badly?”

If he just brought her here to yell at her, she was just going to grab a bus to school. Yeah, she totally understood that he was a little bit wounded. But clearly he had no idea what her side of the story was - and he did not care to hear it.

“And if O hadn’t been there you would have done it,” Bellamy’s anger had turned to ice.

“I would have,” she spoke without hesitation. “Because I am a Griffin. We hunt those who hunt us. We kill monsters.”

What else was there to say? Did he want her to completely deny her family? It was more than a name - it was blood. Being a Griffin meant blood and strength and danger and family. And even though she had saved Bellamy’s life when she by all accounts should have killed him did not mean that she would deny everything her parents had taught her. How could she?

“I know I’m a monster, Clarke,” Bellamy had deflated, his head down as he stared at his combat boots. “I’m a monster, and you hunt things like me.”

How could she argue with that? There was nothing in his statement that was an actual lie, and yet she could not find it in herself to agree with him. Bellamy Blake was a werewolf, that much was true - but did that make him a monster? She had killed more than he ever had.

She could never kill him - not Bellamy Blake.

“I’m not going to kill you,” she was reduced to that simple truth. “I could never. Even though my parents would kill _me_ if they found out.”

There was not going to be any actual death, but she was going to be in serious trouble. How did the Griffin clan deal with insubordination? Was she going to be cast out? What was the punishment for protecting a self-proclaimed monster?

This time she was the one staring at her shoes, somehow expecting that they would provide her with an answer where there was none to be found. She needed an answer, because maybe if she solved this, maybe if she figured it all out, she could have Bellamy. They could have something more than this stupid Romeo and Juliet archetype. They could have something nice and sweet and a little sexy, and most of all: normal.

“Your family is fucked up,” Bellamy chuckled humorlessly.

“No shit, Sherlock,” she had to recognize that particular truth.

No normal family would have handed their ten year old daughter a crossbow. No normal family would have told her about werewolves before she lost her faith in Santa Claus. No normal family would have taken her to crime scenes before she started high school. No normal family would have forced her to watch _that night_.

“It does explain why you’re such a freak,” Bellamy quipped carelessly.

“Such a charmer,” she rolled her eyes at him, glad for the jokes. “I can’t believe Roma dumped your ass.”

A low blow maybe, but it was just about all she had to work with that wasn’t about his little lunar problem. His ex-girlfriend - or not girlfriend, because they were never quite that official - was safer territory.

“Excuse me,” he was not done with the topic. “I was the one who ended things!”

“Whatever helps you sleep at night,” she threw the comment over her shoulder as she got up.

As she waited for him to get back to his stupid bike, she inhaled sharply, breathing in the morning air. Just a little moment before she had to go back to the pressures of being perfect Clarke Griffin. Just a little moment before she had to play the avoidance game with Wells, just a little moment before she had to be a straight A student. Just a little moment with Bellamy Blake.

She couldn’t wait to go to college.

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There was someone, something, kidnapping young people - not just young women anymore. Some of her classmates had disappeared, and her parents were not up to the task. They appeared to know more than they were telling her, and yet they still had not acted against this supernatural kingpin.

At least she could always depend on Octavia to help her out. Indra was occasionally helpful with her vast knowledge of the more exotic creatures out and about. Bellamy was always around, when the lunar cycle allowed it. She was ordered to stay far away from him on those days - apparently having her watch him as a chained animal did not do it for him.

The latest addition to their group was Nathan Miller, Bellamy’s wise-cracking best friend who’d come up to Bellamy a few weeks ago and told him he sucked at keeping secrets. That, and he didn’t mind having a dog as a best friend as long as Bellamy didn’t hump his leg. There was a minor scuffle after that, but the friends remained pretty much inseparable.

Apparently Bellamy did not have a problem with Miller chaining him up. Double standard much?

Miller borrowed some of her werewolf books - the ones without the gruesome pictures of dying animals - to educate himself on the new aspects in his friend’s life. He was always there for research parties, for donuts, and for some no-nonsense advice. While Miller was always victorious in a bar fight and he knew his way around town, his biggest asset was his cop father. David Miller was the kind of honest cop that was very rare in their town. And his son was too good a thief not to get eyes on all the things they needed to know.

Miller Senior’s intel came in really handy when shit really started hitting the fan. Some of Clarke and O’s classmates stopped coming to school, their parents clueless as to where they were. But it was not just high school kids who were disappearing. Bellamy’s ex (or on and off fling) Roma disappeared off the face of the planet after another hook-up. Something or someone was taking them, and they were left without much of a clue.

The pins Bellamy had stuck into a map of the city did not reveal much of a pattern. Yes, most of the youngsters were taken from an area within half a mile radius of the school - but that made sense. There was no specific time of day - so either the vampires had henchmen or they were not involved in the abductions. As far as she knew, it was not possible for the vamps to get out in the daylight.

The Slayer literature agreed with her.

“It can’t be a vamp, O,” Bellamy sighed, pouring through another ancient tome.

“My spidey senses keep tingling near the school,” his sister had started using that phrase since she figured out she could actually sense a vampire’s nearness. “If the vamps aren’t taking our classmates, they are checking out the blood supply.”

Clarke was more of an expert on wolves, but she had picked up the basic vampire mythology easily enough: a stake through the heart, decapitation, or setting them on fire. Garlic didn’t work on them at all, but they couldn’t walk in the sun or enter a house without being invited inside.

Also, apparently magic was real. Sadly, there was no Hogwarts, but there were witches and wizards somewhere around town. She did not know any yet, but she was crossing her fingers for that to happen in the near future - after they’d solved this mystery. If they ever solved it - she was starting to wonder if it would ever happen.

They had all gotten progressively more grouchy as the days passed and people they knew continued to disappear. Bellamy growled more, even though the full moon had already come and gone once. Indra avoided them as much as possible - her increasingly wrathful temper had already brought one student to tears. Even the usually kind Octavia was teetering on the edge of a breaking point. And Clarke? She no longer slept. She spent her days researching and her nights feeling guilty over lying to her parents.

Well, when she wasn’t out patrolling with Octavia. Even though her best friend was the most kickass Slayer ever, there was still safety to be found in numbers. Clarke carried her bow and Octavia carried her trusty belt of stakes - they had weapons aplenty to take out maybe a dozen vampires. Hopefully those twelve vampires wouldn’t rush them all at once.

Indra always briefed them thoroughly before and after patrol - she made a strict but extremely capable leader. She went over every single protocol until Clarke knew everything by heart and she could help Octavia without needing to think about it. Now Clarke was even more of a killing machine than before - before her eighteenth birthday came along (a few more weeks).

She took a deep breath as she took in the situation one final time before preparing to leave: Octavia standing right next to her, a row of stakes in her belt; Bellamy chained up in the cage, growling intermittently as his wolf body fought his human side; Indra standing over them all, ruling her little kingdom.

That was how her former friend found them.

“What are you still doing at school, Clarke?” Wells threw open the door to Indra’s office, and it almost bounced back in his face. “You’ve been here every night this week!”

He had worked himself up into a state of righteous fury, and it was that very state that left him unable to see the big picture - at least for a few seconds. Those precious seconds should have been used; she could have pushed him out the door before he realized that she was following order from the school’s new PE teacher and Octavia Blake was carrying a assortment of weapons that should have made any teacher frown. And definitely before he realized that Bellamy Blake was not entirely human. Wells knowing was going to make everything worse - she was going to get in so much trouble.

“What the hell is going on here?” Wells had not needed much time to look around.

“Language, Mr. Jaha,” Indra shifted seamlessly into teacher mode. “Ms. Griffin and Ms. Blake are my assistants. Now may I ask what you are doing here at this hour?”

That might have worked; it might have made Wells flustered enough to leave with some stupid excuse, were it not that Bellamy chose that moment to stand up on four paws and growl at him. Perhaps it was the wolf instinct trying to protect his pack, but it was just all around bad timing - again.

“You have a werewolf chained up in the equipment locker?” Wells raised his volume with every word. “Why haven’t you killed him yet?”

Her hands were clenched into fists, ready to defend Bellamy over the guy she’d been in diapers with. Just a few weeks ago, she’d been ready to kill him herself, and now she was defending him. Of course she was.

“Because she won’t kill my brother,” Octavia stepped in between Clarke and Wells. “And neither will you, or any other hunter. I say he’s off limits. Anyone who doesn’t hurt humans is off limits.”

Wells was intimidated; Clarke saw right through his bravado to the scared little kid underneath. She saw the kid who lost his mother to the monsters under his bed, and his father to revenge. Thelonius Jaha was never the same after his wife died, and his relationship with his son was strained to this very day.

“And now that you know that,” Octavia continued, “it is time for you to go. We have better things to do than to explain ourselves to you. Stop stalking Clarke.”

Another growl from Bellamy’s cage made Wells’ decision for him. He rushed out of the room as if he was being chased. Clarke wanted to laugh, but she knew that she didn’t exactly hate Wells, she just hated how awkward he made her feel. And Octavia probably made it worse with the stupid ‘stalking’ comment.

“Time to patrol,” she rolled her eyes one final time.

“Be smart,” Indra warned them. “Don’t do anything heroic or stupid.”

Ah yes, the pragmatic approach to slaying - that was just like Indra to deny fancy footwork in favor of textbook accuracy. This woman did not want a Slayer to die on her watch. The life expectancy of a Slayer was already too low.

“She alone stands against the darkness,” Octavia mused playfully as she and Clarke exited the school. “She alone prepares to save her own ass from the scary fangs.”

They both laughed, not even bothering to stay quiet at this point. They were barely into the woods yet, and while Clarke got the urge to badly belt out some Broadway tunes, laughter was not the worst thing right now. They could all use a little laughter.

“Ready to kick some ass?” Clarke teased before they entered the quiet zone.

“Always,” Octavia grabbed the first stake.

Patrol was silent after that - their vampires and other creatures liked to hang out in the woods between the school and the cemetery, so making a sound was going to put their prey on edge, or warn them of their presence. Better to be silent than sorry.

They dispatched about half a dozen vampires, all running alone or in pairs. Vampires rarely grouped together, especially the young and impulsive ones - the older vampires seemed to know that there was strength in numbers. Though vampires rarely lived to that ripe age in Arktown.

“Sooooo, Indra,” Clarke finally felt they had enough distance from the school to comment on this.

“I know she’s an uptight hardass,” O shrugged. “But I’m not her first slayer.”

Oh, shit. There were no happy thoughts there, and it explained a whole lot.

“What happened?” Clarke asked the dreaded question.

“She won’t tell me,” Octavia responded. “She won’t talk about it. She says I’m not ready, but really I think she isn’t - Damn it.”

Her friend stopped for a second, looking around, and Clarke figured that her spidey sense was tingling again. Vampires were probably on their way over - such fun.

“You do know Wells is still following us, right?” Octavia sighed as they approached the cemetery.

“We lost him for a while in the woods,” Clarke turned slowly, trying not to make it obvious to Wells that she was aware of his presence. “He found us again a few minutes ago. And he is doing a really bad job at being subtle. I’m sure his father taught him better than that.”

A few yards behind them, Wells was trying to hide in the foliage. Soon, if they moved closer to the street side of the cemetery, he would have to give up his hiding spot. Soon he would have only gravestones to hide behind, and his 6’2” frame was not going to make that very easy. She was going to keep an eye on him to see if he would rise to the challenge.

“Slayer,” a duo of badly dressed vamps had located Octavia.

“Not this again,” Clarke’s best friend just sounded bored. “Soon you’ll be dust in the wind.”

The 80’s garb seemed particularly popular with the Arktown vampire population - and Clarke  wondered if there had been a Big Bad Vamp back in those days who had turned a lot of unsuspecting youngsters into vampires. She had not seen any vamp who appeared older than twenty-five, and most of them wore modern clothes - or at least, no clothing items older than thirty years. No ancient Masters ever came to Arktown.

“Well, that wasn’t even a proper fight,” Octavia brushed the dust of the two vamps off her patrol outfit. “So disappointing.”

Clarke laughed, and then coughed as she breathed in some of the dust. Ugh, that stuff always left the nastiest taste in her mouth. She was going to need some candy later to get rid of the aftertaste of the undead.

“You’ve given me dust breath,” she mock-groaned at Octavia.

“Sucks to be you,” O grinned, white teeth bared in the moonlight. “I just wanna know how they knew I was the Slayer.”

Most young vamps did not know that a thing like the Slayer even existed, let alone who she was and what she looked like.

“I don’t know,” Clarke already had a stupid joke lined up, “maybe you’re just the hot topic at the blood bank.”

“Oh, shut it,” Octavia rolled her eyes. “We have incoming. Four or five, coming from your six.”

While her friend held her trusty stake close, Clarke pulled out her bow. She wanted to see how many of those idiots she could take down before they got into O’s range.

The trees moved slightly, and she lined up her first shot. Those vamps were not going to see her coming!

But when the first female vamp stepped out of the woods, she froze. She knew that face; she had been looking at that face in pictures for as long as she could remember. She had known that woman, had known her smile and her love.

“Clarke?” O had noticed her freeze.

“Mom?” Wells had run out, staring at the group of vamps in shock.

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_Three months later_

Mrs. Jaha’s birthday was tomorrow, and as usual, everyone in the hunter community grew weary when the day approached - it was a reminder of the terrible mistake they had made all those years ago. It was a reminder of the monster they let loose on the city, the monster still wearing their friend’s face. The face of Dalila Jaha.

Their hesitance on that night three months ago had allowed the monster to make her escape, flanked by her small guard. She was much too well protected to be just another vamp - she had to be a leader of some kind. Of course she was - she knew all the ins and outs of the local hunter community and she probably had an axe to grind against them for the things that had happened. She probably blamed the hunters for her current condition.

The intel they’d gathered in the meantime made them suspect that Dalila was behind the missing youngsters in town. More and more of Clarke’s classmates had gone missing, and some of them had started to show up with suspiciously pointed teeth and a sudden sunlight allergy. They had been turned by a stranger, and then taken to a mysterious woman who tried to give them a purpose. Some of the kids listened. Some of them did not.

Most of the kids who did not listen died quickly after being questioned by the Slayer and her friend. The others were given a chance to... share some secrets, as it were. Sadly they had a decent sense of loyalty and never revealed much about their Dark Lady, as they called her. Clarke was not sure if it was a screwed up Harry Potter reference or if it was something that Wells’ mom asked to be called.

“We need to do something,” Clarke spoke up desperately. “She is planning something for her birthday, she has to be. It’s been ten years and of course she can’t have people move on. She is going to come after her husband and her son.”

Something in her gut told her that there was danger afoot. Tomorrow’s date was certainly significant, and a woman hellbent on revenge, like Dalila, was not going to let a significant day go by without using it to her advantage. And now that she had amassed quite the army - from the glimpses they had of her she was now rarely seen without a guard of a dozen young vampires - there was no way she was going to let her husband and son go unpunished. Clarke even feared for the lives of her own parents in this.

“We cannot be certain of that,” Indra dismissed anything that was not based on actual evidence.

“It’s psychology of evil,” Bellamy backed her up, and she shot him a grateful look. “If the bitch is set on revenge, this is the day to do it. Plus, it’s the lead-up to a full moon, so she knows she doesn’t have much to fear from the werewolves.”

The rumors of a werewolf pack were greatly exaggerated. It seemed as if most of the supernatural creatures had grown scared of the overwhelming amount of vampires that now populated Arktown. They had all gone into hiding and left the Slayer practically alone to extinguish the threat, with only her Watcher, a hunter, and a werewolf at her side.

This fight was not going to be easy.

“While I do think we should be prepared,” Indra was always more inclined to listen to Bellamy for some reason, “I think it would be a waste to focus entirely on that day. Vampires are not known for doing what is expected of them.”

A compromise had been struck, which was just as well because the clock in Indra’s office struck twelve at that very moment. And all hell broke loose.

“Incoming,” Octavia barely had the time to shout. “A huge group.”

Clarke shoved a stake in her belt and tried not to let her fear take over. Of course Dalila had realized that the Slayer was the biggest threat against her. Of course she was going to try to keep Octavia from defeating her.

Why hadn’t they done something about that?

So here they were, about to be overrun by a crowd of vampires, and she was praying to a God she’d never believed in that they would make it out of this alive and relatively unscathed. They couldn’t take her best friend from her, and they could not take Bellamy from her. Indra would never let herself be taken, Clarke expected that much.

When they came, seconds later, there was nothing that she could do as over a dozen vampires grabbed Octavia and another twenty came for Indra. Clarke and Bellamy fought against the hordes, each dusting five or six vampires before they realized that their friends were already gone and that they were surrounded.

Clarke could hardly see Bellamy in between the vampires, and she tried in vain to lash out in his direction, trying to get closer to him. At least that way they could fight together. She was still struggling when something hit her head and everything went black.

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She woke up alone on the floor of Bellamy’s cage, feeling like she had been run over by a truck. Octavia was gone, and so was Indra.

“Bellamy?” she whispered, and her voice cracked.

“Clarke,” there were warm hands holding her head steady. “I’m right here. You stay still.”

Everything hurt. Her head throbbed and any small movement she tried to make made her feel sick. But her head was supported by his large hands, and she was trying not to make that into a thing. This was the kind of protective that she liked. It made her think that maybe one day there could be something there between them. It made her think that he really did care about her.

“What happened?” despite Bellamy’s warnings, she tried to move her head.

“They took O and Indra,” Bellamy’s voice almost vibrated through her as his hands slowly lifted her upright against his body. “Then they knocked you out. They locked us both in the cage before they left.”

His chest was warm against her back and for a second there she actually felt safe. But this was not the time.

There was no time to dwell on the helpless feeling that settled in her gut at the memory of those damn vamps taking her best friend. They needed to get out of this cage and they needed to do it right fucking now. So she turned to Bellamy, trying to see if he had a plan. She saw him staring angrily at the lock hanging from the door, blood trickling steadily from a wound on his neck. He’d been bitten.

“They bit you,” she stammered, trying to crawl away from him.

“Werewolf blood is a delicacy, apparently,” Bellamy deadpanned. “I’m still me, though. Now let’s get out of here. We need to get to Octavia before they kill her.”

The mere idea of that put her even more on edge - how much time did Octavia have left? Was she even still alive? Had they already killed Indra? Dalila Jaha had gone too far. She had already hurt Bellamy, or had her minions hurt him.

“Hold still,” she ordered, trying to get close enough to inspect the wound.

“It’s not important right now, Clarke,” he pushed her hand away. “I’m fine.”

Well, she wasn’t exactly agreeing with him on that point, but if he wouldn’t let her use her sleeve to stem the bleeding, then fine. That was his problem.

“How are we going to get out?” Clarke forced herself to stand up, even though her legs could barely support her body. “This is one strong cage.”

She pretended she did not notice that Bellamy was helping her up, holding on to her just a beat longer than was strictly necessary. Not the time. They had to get out of the cage.

The entire thing had been reinforced to make sure that Bellamy - or Wolfamy, as she and Octavia had started to call him behind his back - could not escape it in his feral state. Maybe the school had questioned why the equipment cage needed to have extra steel bars and a heavy lock that could not be broken under any circumstances, but Indra still made them put it in.

“We take turns kicking it,” Bellamy knew his plan was stupid. “We have no other choice.”

If she had any kind of energy to be sassy, she would have faked a facepalm. But sadly, this really was their only option to escape the cage before the first period gym class found them together. And not only was that not going to be pretty, it also meant that they were not going to be able to get to Octavia and Indra in time. They had to get out - now.

“I’ll go first,” Bellamy magnanimously offered. “You can go when you can stand up on your own two feet without holding on to the wall.”

The effort of sticking out her tongue at him was already too much, so she just leaned against the wall and watched Bellamy take out his anger on a mostly innocent door. But no matter how harshly Bellamy kicked it, or how much power he exerted in his pushing, the door simply would not budge.

“My turn,” she told him after a few minutes of watching him make no difference.

Her efforts would be even more futile, but she could not just stand there and do nothing while her friend was being hurt. That was not the Griffin way.

“Don’t hurt your delicate feet,” Bellamy just had to be an asshole.

“Shut it, wolf boy,” her insults got progressively lamer the more her head started hurting.

They were actually going to be stuck here, getting angrier and angrier while Dalila Jaha killed the one person they both loved more than anything. Octavia Blake deserved better than this, and they had to escape and help her.

“Am I interrupting something?” Wells had followed her yet again.

“Shut up,” she was not in the mood for this. “Just get us out of here. Please. It’s important.”

Of course Wells would show up - he had been everywhere lately. Every single step she made was tracked carefully by him, and she was so damn tired of it. She was tired of being on edge and feeling so awkward all the time. She could not help feeling the way she did - she just did not love him that way.

Clarke wanted to be angry at him, wanted to rail at him for not understanding how hard this was for her, but this was definitely not the time for that. She sighed. This time it was actually a good thing that he was here.

“I was concerned about you,” Wells tried to argue. “You know what day it is.”

“Good for you,” Bellamy interrupted. “Now get us the hell out of here. The spare key is taped to the underside of the desk.”

Bellamy had no time for explanations either. She grinned appreciatively at him, and then watched in horror as Wells dove under the desk only to retrieve - nothing at all. There was no spare key. They were going to be stuck here forever.

“Fucking hell,” Bellamy yanked at the bars.

“Give me a sec,” Wells furrowed his brow. “I’ve always got a couple picks with me. I might even break my record.”

It was so much like old times that she actually laughed. Wells could be such a smartass, especially in situations where it was all around bad to get witty. Everyone always thought he was such a good boy, the only child of tragic widower Thelonius Jaha. But Wells Jaha was part delinquent and part your regular mischievous teen. He was exactly the kind of asshole that Clarke Griffin needed to be friends with.

Sure, he had all these morals, but that did not mean he always followed the law - which was why he was so damn good at picking locks.

“Done,” Wells brushed the imaginary dirt off his clothes. “That wasn’t even a challenge. Now why did the two of you want to have your alone time in a locked cage?”

“Thanks a lot, dork face,” Clarke said affectionately. “Can we just get to the fighting? I have a best friend to save and no time to be envious of your lock-picking skills. Though you really have to teach me that some time.”

Bellamy just grumbled and ignored Wells, going straight for Indra’s weapons chest. It was time to mount up, grabbing stakes and crossbows and some lighters. Holy water was a last resort - it wasn’t easy to carry and it was best to stick to the lethal weapons. The cross she hung around her neck was the only non-lethal weapon she carried.

“Grab a blowtorch and let’s go,” Bellamy looked at Wells, who seemed frozen to the spot.

“We have to call in the cavalry,” Wells looked at her. “They can help.”

Oh yeah, like she was going to run to mom and dad to ask them for help with this. They were not going to take this well at all - they were going to be furious about all of the lies that she had told them over the last few months. They were going to be too angry to be helpful. Same went for Wells’ father.

“Absolutely not,” she shook her head vehemently. “We are not calling in our parents. They are not going to be very happy we’re helping a werewolf. I don’t even want to consider what they’d do to Bellamy after we’ve saved Octavia. Besides, we don’t even know where we’re going yet.”

Why were they even wasting time having this discussion? They needed to finish choosing weapons and head the hell out of here. Maybe Bellamy could track his sister’s scent, because otherwise they didn’t even have a clue where to look for Octavia.

“But we can’t save them with just the three of us,” Wells was really trying to make sense.

“So you are coming with us?” she had to ask. “You know we’re going after your mom. Or, the thing that used to be your mom.”

After checking every pocket and every hole in her weapons belt, she deemed herself ready to head out. She checked the boys - because even though Bellamy was a man in every way, they were acting like schoolyard boys protecting their turf - and found them bristling at each other yet again. She rolled her eyes and turned to Wells, needing him to understand what they were up against.

“I know,” Wells was not happy at the reminder.

“Are you going to be able to kill her?” another question she did not want to ask. “If it comes down to us or her, will you kill her?”

“I don’t know,” Wells was down to short sentences.

The boys were finally done with the weapons, so she walked out of the office, assuming that these two idiots would follow her. Someone had to take the lead without the Slayer or her Watcher around, and clearly these guys were not up for the job. Bellamy was a great tracker now, and Wells was a skilled hunter, but they were way too emotionally involved in this. Bellamy would go to hell and back for his sister, several times if need be, but right now that just left him too emotional to be the right leader.

Sometimes it took a pissed-off woman to do the job.

“You know it’s not her anymore,” she tried to argue, then stopped.

This was not going to make a difference. He had to figure this out for himself, and they needed to get going. She stepped outside and couldn’t help sneaking a peek at Bellamy - damn those guns worked for him. Both kinds of guns.

“I know,” Wells was clearly done with the subject. “Now what the hell is wolfboy doing?”

Bellamy had his eyes closed, and he was breathing steadily. Clearly he was trying to focus on his surroundings, trying to see if he could hear or smell anything that might help them track Octavia and Indra. He was blocking her out, and most definitely doing the same for Wells. She just hoped that he could actually find a trail.

“He has a very good nose,” Clarke did not mean to sound so disgustingly pleased at that.

“He’s not gonna sniff my butt later, right?” Wells joked, and she let out the most undignified snort.

That was so not right, but she was always up for a couple of stupid dog jokes. Even though Bellamy was her friend - he was her friend, right? - she was always ready to make fun of his wolfy habits.

“You do realize I can hear you, right?” Bellamy interrupted. “Super wolf hearing.”

At least Bellamy’s stupid sense of humor hadn’t changed. She grinned at him briefly before once again realizing what was really at stake here (pun only slightly intended).

“Lead the way, Mr. Wolf,” she told him.

“I think they’re close to the graveyard,” Bellamy sniffed the air again. “That’s where Octavia’s scent seems to be coming from.”

Even though he was not completely sure, they headed in the direction of the graveyard nonetheless. What else was there to do? Bellamy lead the pack, with Wells and Clarke continuing their argument about the merits of informing some adults.

The journey was not long enough to stay her fears, but it was long enough to convince Wells that they were going to do this by themselves. It was going to be just the three of them, up against a possible army of vampires. Armed to the teeth, they still were not prepared for what they were about to face in the large crypt.

“If you know the enemy and know yourself,” Bellamy spoke with gravitas, “you need not fear the results of a hundred battles.”

“Sun Tzu,” she recognized the words almost immediately.

Was he trying to inspire them with history? What a fucking nerd - a furry nerd with a leather jacket and a motorcycle and was it hot out here or was that just her?

“That’s right,” Bellamy’s head turned quickly as he glanced at her, obviously impressed

In that moment, there was nothing but them, standing together as the light of the moon shone down. He just looked at her, and she wondered if they would ever have another moment like this. She wondered if she would ever get to look at him and think her ‘what ifs’ again, or if one or both of them would die tonight.

“That’s adorable,” Wells just had to interrupt. “I thought we were in a hurry here.”

Wells had his phone out, and she knew he’d texted his father now that he knew where the battle would take place. And while she was still determined that the presence of the other hunts would mean trouble for Bellamy, she knew that they really needed backup for the battle ahead.

“Okay, listen,” Bellamy stopped them for a final speech. “I know the odds are terrible, and that we are outnumbered. But we came here to rescue our people, and they need us. So let’s be heroes.”

Clarke Griffin was not a hero; she was just a scared teenage girl who wanted her friend back from the monsters. She just wanted the fighting to stop and the bad guys to go away forever so that she could maybe one day have a normal life. That did not make her a hero.

“That is so cheesy,” she rolled her eyes.

“But, did it help?” Bellamy asked.

So what if it did? Maybe she just needed a bit of motivation at this point. Maybe she just needed to hear that everything was going to be okay, and that happy endings could be real. Maybe she just needed that lie.

She shrugged in Bellamy’s general direction, and judging by his smirk, he’d gotten the message. He could gloat about that later - right now it was time for war.

They entered the mausoleum with their weapons drawn, preparing for the worst. But what they found was harmless. It was just like any other crypt - she had seen quite a few in her day - with two large coffins in the center. They were centered so perfectly that it seemed too good to be true.

“We need to go down,” she decided, trying to find a staircase somewhere.

“The only way down will be through those coffins,” Bellamy had determined. “There’s a reason they’re so perfectly lined up. There’s our entrance.”

Of course the vampires hid the entrance to their secret lair in a pair of coffins. That was just so typical - and morbid. Wolves were just so much easier - they just attacked and tore your throat out. No symbolism and graveyards required.

“You can go first,” she decided. “Then Wells. I’ll take the rear.”

She needed to have at least an idea of what she was walking into. That was the only way she knew how to make a plan. So she followed the boys down, down, down, leaving the coffins open for the cavalry she knew was coming.

The stupid atmospheric torches were the only thing lighting the way to their doom. At least these evil creatures were considerate enough to do that. With every step Clarke took, she got more and more nervous about what was coming. She tried to keep her hands from trembling - she needed to be able to aim in order to kill her enemy. She took deep, steady breaths as they came to a turn in the hallway. The boys waited for her there, ready to storm in together, hoping for the element of surprise.

“Come out little children,” Dalila Jaha’s voice had not changed with her transformation. “I know you’re there.”

With a stake in each hand, Clarke was the first one to step out into the lair. It was larger than she expected, and she could not even count the number of vampires present, but she estimated that there were at least thirty. Ten each, she almost heard Bellamy telling her. They could do that - only they couldn’t.

“Hello little Clarke,” Dalila recognized her still. “How you’ve grown. And I see you were kind enough to bring my boy back to me.”

Wells could not move after seeing his mother; he completely froze right on the spot and it was up to Bellamy to defend him from incoming danger. Clarke was trying to stay close to him, but the vampire minions had other things in mind. They were driving her away, in the direction of the evil hell bitch herself.

“Thank you, boys,” Dalila was just so polite to her cronies.

Clarke was still trying to get her bearings when the vampire lady’s right hand woman, a young girl Clarke remembered from school, grabbed her chin. The stakes in her hands both missed their intended targets as she tried to swipe angrily at the other women while being held tightly in the girl’s grip. Of course the girl was stronger now. The child who had been almost mild-mannered before had been taken over by the demon inside.

“You know, it was your mother’s fault,” Dalila mused, still inspecting every inch of Clarke’s face. “She was supposed to have my back. Not that I blame her, mind you. She freed me. In fact, I’m thinking of sending her a present to thank her. Her daughter’s dead body should do, don’t you think?”  

This terror was beyond anything that she had ever felt before. It was not just her heart pounding in her chest and her limbs trembling, it was the knowledge that these were her very last moments. These were her last breaths, in this dank lair under the ground. She would have liked to have seen the sun one last time.

She exchanged a pained look with Octavia, who was bound and gagged, strapped to a table in the middle of the room. She tried to find help, any help, from Indra, but the Watcher was chained to the wall, obviously unconscious with a head wound that looked serious. Bellamy was being held by three vamps pushing him to his knees and Wells was being hoisted up by the neck by a bulky frat boy vamp. There was no one coming to help her.

“Yes, you will make a fine present, little Princess,” she cooed at Clarke before turning to look at Octavia. “But first I need to be strong. Nothing like Slayer blood to make a girl powerful enough to bring this town to its knees. I could kill everyone if I just drain this girl of her very pretty blood. I can feel it pumping away already.”

Bellamy growled angrily, but his three guards silenced him with a punch to the stomach. He was helpless against them, and none of them could do anything to save Octavia. Suddenly there was a commotion behind her, and she felt the pressure on her head and body disappear. She no longer felt the vamp girl behind her,  and there was a cloud of dust all around her.

When she turned around, Wells was there, his stake still poised. How did he even get away from his captors? The vampires did not appear to know that either, because they all went in different directions. They tried to pursue their captives without any rhyme or reason, mostly just getting in each other’s way as they tried to grab Clarke.

Wells used the ensuing chaos to his advantage, not letting the dust of his victim get in his way as he headed towards his mother. Bellamy had struggled free as well and was starting to undo his sister’s bindings - as soon as one of O’s hands was free she took out her gag and started cursing up a storm. Clarke ran in Indra’s direction, trying to figure out the severity of that head wound.

And then Wells stopped in his tracks.

“You didn’t really think you could kill your own mother, did you?” Dalila had grabbed hold of her son, grabbing him around the neck, forcing him to drop his weapons. “Wells, my boy. My sweet baby boy.”

“No!” Clarke screamed as she was forced to watch her friend getting hurt.

It seemed like everything froze then. Dalila was holding her son close, singing old lullabies that Clarke remembered from better days.

“My baby boy,” Dalila cooed. “Won’t you be my baby boy forever?”

Wells started struggling even more at those words, trying to lash out at the mother who had abandoned him and turned to the lure of the demon. He tried to kick and scratch and punch, all to keep Dalila away from his exposed neck. But she bit him anyway, and there was nothing Clarke could do as her old friend was drained of blood.

Just as the demon who was once Dalila Jaha bit her own wrist, intending to feed her own blood to her dying son, Octavia jumped at her. Dalila did not get the chance to force her own fate on her son, because Octavia followed her jump with a kick that sent the vampire flying away from Wells.

“Wells,” Clarke rushed over to his side.

His rattling breaths told her everything that she needed to know: there was no way that he was going to live. Wells was going to die here. His mother had killed him.

Tears streamed down her face as she tried to get Wells to look at her for one last time. He was so weak.

“Looks like,” another rattling breath, “I won’t get to teach you-” another shallow breath “-to pick locks-” he coughed up even more blood “-after all.”

She was sobbing and trying to think of things that she could say to make things better. What could she say to make up for the stupid grudge she had been holding against him?

“I am so sorry,” she held him up against her seated body. “I have been such a terrible bitch to you and you didn’t deserve that. I love you. Wells, please!”

“Love you,” he muttered, and she tried to blink through her tears.

There was so much more that she wanted to say to him, but then she saw his eyes had gone glassy. He was gone. Wells Jaha was gone. Her childhood friend, the one who had always been around, even when she wanted him gone, was no longer going to be anywhere.

And she was filled with so much anger then, so much wrath, that she picked up Wells’ abandoned stake, fully intending on putting it deep into Dalila’s shriveled up heart. But then a group of familiar adults came bursting in, hellbent on killing every evil creature in sight. And Octavia had Dalila up against the walls of her lair, and her stake was coming down.

Even when the worst creature on the face of the planet was nothing more than dust, Clarke still didn’t feel any better. Dalila’s death didn’t make Wells’ passing any less senseless. All the damage she had wreaked was still there - there were still dozens of teenagers and young adults who were turned into monsters for her little army. There were lives ruined and bloodshed and it made her so damn angry.

The other hunters started making quick work of the young vampires now running around without their leader, while Bellamy’s sword cut off heads left and right - it had a terrifying beauty to it that brought a grim grin to her tired face. She threw herself into the fight headfirst, ignoring the anguished wail coming from Thelonius Jaha as he found his son’s lifeless body. For a minute she could just cut down the enemy and forget about the pain she was in.

But then the dust started to settle, with most of the vampires taken care of and only a few of them rushing to the nearest exit. She was left near the body, Thelonius Jaha cradling his son for the final time, surrounded by piles of dust.

That was when something snapped. She was screaming and crying again, pleading to a non-existent God to just bring Wells back. And then a damn vampire tried to slip past her on its way to the exit. She made a half-hearted grab, tears still clouding her eyes, even though she was determined to finish this.

“We need to get all of them,” she hiccuped, blindly grabbing for a weapon.

“Clarke, stop!” Bellamy was beside her, his sword clattering to the floor. “Don’t go after them.”

She still wanted to escape, but he had his strong arms around her and it was almost a comforting prison - because while she wanted revenge, she also just wanted someone to hold her close before she sank to the floor and couldn’t get up anymore.

“I’m here, Clarke,” Octavia’s comforting presence was near. “I’ve got you.”

Octavia’s presence had never been anything but comforting and almost soothing. Her arms were stronger now than they had been last time they’d done this, but they were no less warm and safe. She could let her tears out now, could wallow in her grief like she’d been almost afraid to do with Bellamy.

The voice in the back of her mind that wanted to be back in Bellamy’s arms was silenced by the comforting hum of her best friend’s voice and the way Bellamy’s large hand started softly stroking her back.

It seemed like years later when her parents finally approached her. Clarke was no longer hiding her face in Octavia’s neck, but Bellamy was still running his fingers through her hair, cutting through tangles ever so gently. She was broken, but she could almost breathe again.

“Girls,” Abby Griffin was at her strictest, “you need to go home to clean up. School starts in two hours.”

Clarke did not know if anyone had ever felt this gross. Both she and Octavia were covered from head to toe in dust and mud and vampire germs. Octavia still had rope burn on her wrists, and Clarke had a nasty cut on her chin that had barely stopped bleeding. Not to mention the emotional pain.

And yet all the adults could think about was the upcoming school day.

“Shouldn’t we be cut a little slack?” Octavia argued. “We saved the town!”

Alas, no cutting school for the not-so-wicked.

 


	2. The I in Team

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> College was… really not that different from high school. The same town, a lot of the same people, and she was still the weirdo who absentmindedly doodled particularly accurate monsters in the margins of her lecture notes. Ah yes, nothing ever seemed to change.

PART TWO - college

College was… really not that different from high school. The same town, a lot of the same people, and she was still the weirdo who absentmindedly doodled particularly accurate monsters in the margins of her lecture notes. Ah yes, nothing ever seemed to change.

Even Indra was very much the same. Though her reputation within the Watcher community had improved due to her surprisingly capable Slayer, she was still the same hardass she had always been. Or at least, that was what she liked to pretend.

“Yes, Indra,” Octavia had put her Watcher on speaker phone. “We’ll be safe.”

Clarke was really struggling to keep a straight face, because even though Indra would not be able to see her smile, she was definitely going to hear it in her voice. There was something quite sneaky about that power that she was impressed by.

“It is close to a full moon, Octavia,” Indra was totally worried about them. “Your brother is not the only werewolf in this town. This is not the time to let down your guard.”

Sure, Indra framed her concern as a warning about proper protocols, but there was something else that went unsaid: “please don’t die, I care about you.” Indra was not all anger and doing drills - at least, Clarke was pretty damn sure that there was a caring heart beating somewhere deep down.

“I understand, Indra,” Octavia kept her voice steady and strong. “I will report back later.”

When her best friend finally hung up, Clarke was just waiting for the sassy comment that would follow. Octavia was in her college rebellion phase, just wanting to grow up already and be seen as an adult, especially by her protectors.

“Sometimes having a Watcher is just like having an extra mother,” O was feeling overprotected again. “And I already have two.”

“Ah, yes, how is your brother doing?” Clarke rolled her eyes.

Yes, the unfortunate crush she had on Wolfamy Blake had not faded, like she hoped it would. She had been counting on the distance to do the trick, but now that she had stupidly decided to stay in Arktown, that was not going to happen. Was she always going to wonder about him? Was she always going to wait for a someday with him?

God, she was not sixteen anymore.

“He is being an idiot, as usual,” Octavia shrugged. “He’s angsting about the full moon and putting in way too many hours at the bar so he doesn’t have to think about Roma disappearing on him again. He’s such a drama queen.”

Bellamy was supposed to be in college by now, or taking the police exam. That was what he wanted to do ever since he was a kid. He wanted to help people, to save people. He was a great protector, and the police would have been honored to have him on the force. But the werewolf’s bite put a stop to that.

How could he be a cop when he turned into a monster once a month? There was no way he could avoid the full moon night shifts on the force. He was not going to be a werewolf detective - so he was forced to find something else. And at least bartending paid well enough  that he could help out Octavia with anything she needed. He made sure that she did not have to take on a stupid side job - slaying was already eating up a lot of valuable study time. Bellamy really wanted his sister to succeed.

“Let’s patrol,” Clarke did not want to be distracted by stupid Bellamy any longer - he wasn’t even here.

“It’s been quiet lately,” Octavia was too calm. “We’ll be home in an hour.”

That was possibly the worst thing that her friend could have said. But she totally understood the reasons behind it: it was a Friday night and there were some big parties going on around campus. Octavia wanted to go - Clarke really did not. She just wanted to hole up in the dorm with her sketchbook or a cheesy movie.

“You just jinxed us,” Clarke bumped shoulders with her best friend. “Don’t do that to me. You just wanna go over to Atom’s so you can get it on.”

Atom was some sophomore who’d had his eye on Octavia ever since they literally ran into each other during a midnight (ice cream) run. Apparently the guy had taken one look at Octavia in her workout gear and decided that they should bang. Such a charmer.

“At least I don’t sexile you,” Octavia argued. “I’m such a great roomie.”

That comment was punctuated with a sharp flick of her wrist as O twirled her stake. She had taught herself some pretty cool tricks lately, seeing as there was rarely anything to do on patrol these days.

“I never sexile you either,” Clarke made it a point to say as she eyed the empty cemetery.

It had been so damn quiet since the Dalila Jaha debacle that she was actually getting worried someone was up to some big nefarious plan. Especially seeing as the paw prints seemed to have increased exponentially over the last few months, and still they had yet to spot a single wolf other than the caged Wolfamy.

“You should be sexiling me,” Octavia was being seriously confusing.

“Because I’m a bad roommate?” she frowned, trying to find the right tombstone.

Seriously, someone had died a grisly death - it was still rare enough that it should not be this hard to find the one guy who’d died with a neck wound and serious blood loss. Though, she was a little disappointed that more of the town hadn’t caught on to the underworld.

“Because we’re in college, Clarke,” O was prepping some dramatic speech. “You should be out having fun, or inside having fun - with boys. Or girls, if that’s what you want.”

She’d told O about that in confidence - you were supposed to tell your best friend if you weren’t sure if you liked boys or girls. It was O who told her: “Why choose? Have both! At the same time if you so choose.” And that was it - there was no awkwardness, no sudden distance between the two of them. Which was why Octavia Blake was probably the best person ever.

“I don’t know what I want,” she shrugged as she finally found the right grave.

Well, that was a flat out lie. She wanted O’s brother, but she was not ever going to tell her that. Not that anything was ever going to happen between her and Bellamy - he thought of her as a kid, as nothing more than his kid sister’s best friend. She’d hoped that something might happen after high school, after she turned eighteen, after they’d saved Octavia and Indra from the monster with a familiar face. Nothing ever did.

“Let’s hope this guy rises quickly,” Octavia was bored already.

“Atom is waiting, I know,” she teased in response. “What do you even see in him?”

They had to talk about something while they were waiting for Vampy McSlow to crawl out of his grave already, so why not talk about stupid Atom? Because while Clarke could probably see the aesthetic appeal, there was absolutely nothing interesting about him other than that.

“He’s really good in bed,” O shrugged carelessly, still twirling her stake.

“And he doesn’t know Bellamy,” Clarke knew she should have brought her sketchbook. “So your brother never has to know who you’re playing with.”

It was not easy being a killer - Clarke knew that much, so she understood that Octavia might need some kind of release from time to time. And she knew how ridiculous Bellamy could get. It seemed that he missed the memo that Octavia, and Clarke, were adults now. Sometimes he treated them like they were still girls playing with dolls (and his action figures).

“You know me so well,” O grinned.

“One day you’re going to meet this ridiculously hot guy,” Clarke predicted, smirking. “And he’s going to want to be your boyfriend, not just your playmate. I can’t wait until that happens.”

For one, Octavia would not know how to deal with a guy who actually liked her inside and out - most guys did not get to see the bravery, the strength, and the compassion. They just saw the hot girl who wanted to hang out for a little while.

“You just wanna see Bellamy break out his tough guy speech,” Octavia was not amused.

“Well yeah,” Clarke stared at the dirt on the grave again. “He’s such a nerd underneath the leather and claws. It’s hilarious.”

Maybe her stare had the power to make the idiot crawl out of his grave already, because he was taking way too long. She just wanted to put on her dorky pjs and read a good book, like the hermit she was turning out to be. Friday night was alright for reading.

“Will this guy just rise and die already?” O was getting seriously impatient at this point. “I have things to see and people to do.”

Clarke snorted.

But she was not the only one who laughed.

Both Slayer and hunter were on their feet immediately, weapons raised, pointing to - a girl their age? Clarke had seen many a vampire in her day - no, she totally wasn’t that old yet - but this girl didn't give off the undead, 'i vant to suck your blood' vibe. And obviously she wasn't a werewolf, as the full moon was high in the sky. So what reason would she have to be in a graveyard, at night, alone? And why did Clarke have the distinct feeling, by the way that she was jovially looking back at them, that she wasn't surprised by the weapons trained on her or by two teenage girls sitting on a blanket in front of a tombstone as though they were picnicking in a meadow in the middle of summer?

The girl was about their age, with dark hair, dark skin and dark eyes. She casually strolled towards the grave, as if this were a damn promenade. The smirk on her face did not promise anything good, and Clarke and Octavia kept their weapons trained on her, following her every move.

She was slightly terrifying as she extended a graceful hand towards the grave and, with eyes suddenly aglow, crooked her fingers at the grave. Clarke looked at Octavia in horror.

“What are you doing?” O bravely stepped up.

“I’m doing you a favor,” the girl barely glanced away from the grave.

She then whispered some words that sounded like Latin - only it was not quite Latin. Clarke would know - all hunters were forced to take several languages that were used in supernatural or occult practices.

Clarke could actually feel the earth seemingly coming alive underneath her feet. The dirt on the grave appeared to tremble, and then the body of a vamp floated up through the earth and right in front of Octavia’s stake.

Holy shit! The girl just made the earth shake and pulled a vampire from his grave with just a few words in Latin and a twitch of her fingers.

There was nothing she and O could do but stare dumbly at the other girl.

“Well, are you gonna slay him?” the girl talked as if she was offering them a stick of gum instead of magically producing their prey. “It's not exactly easy to dangle a 220 pound vampire in front of you. If you want me to let him go so you can chase him, though..."

The girl grinned mischievously as she let the vamp hang above the ground helplessly. The guy was awake, trying to claw his way through the air to get to their necks.

Octavia kind of shook herself free, glaring at the girl before turning and stabbing the vamp in the heart - a little harder than necessary, considering he wasn't exactly going anywhere. As the dust settled, Octavia continued to regard the witch with mistrust.

“Who exactly are you?” O snapped.

“Raven Reyes,” the girl finally revealed her name. “College student, witch, technological genius. Nice to meet you, Clarke. And Octavia. I’ve never seen a Slayer in the flesh before.”

Now it was getting a little creepy. How did she know their names? Could they even trust her? Maybe she was an evil witch. Were there good and bad witches? How did that even work? Clearly her parents’ supernatural education had been a bit lacking.

“Did you use magic on us?” O was still suspicious.

“I just did my research,” Raven shrugged. “Look, Hunter, I'm not here to hurt you two. Do you really  think your arrows could stop me anyway? You can put your bow away now."

Clarke didn’t trust Raven yet, but she slowly lowered her bow anyway.

“Now, what are you doing here?” Clarke waited for Raven to explain herself. “What do you want?”

“A ‘thank you’ would be nice,” Raven crossed her arms. “That guy probably wouldn't have managed to break himself out of his grave for another few hours. I’m sure you have better things to do with your time.”

“What are you doing here?” Octavia repeated the question impatiently.

Raven was silent for a long moment.

“You two aren’t the only ones patrolling the area,” she said cryptically.  

They were left standing there, awkwardly staring at each other. O and Clarke both did not know what to say to that.

“Well, looks like you’ve got your Friday night back,” Raven broke the silence. “You’re welcome, by the way.”

She then tipped a metaphorical hat and walked away, disappearing into the mist in a way that did not seem completely natural. The Slayer and the hunter stared at the spot where the witch disappeared.

“That was weird,” Clarke found herself stating the obvious. “Should we be worried?”

“I don’t know,” Octavia said dismissively. “Not tonight, anyway.”

Something told Clarke that would not be the last they’d see of Raven Reyes. In the meantime, she’d do a little research of her own.

Octavia had already started gathering her stuff, ready to head over to Atom’s as soon as possible.

“Come on, Clarke, move,” O was in a rush again. “We’re done here.”

Octavia led the way in what was supposed to be a brisk walk, but felt more like a jog or a run. The lack of Slaying action seemed to have her jonesing for another kind of action. At least that meant that Clarke would be home early - that was never a bad thing.

Maybe the boys from the dorm would be up for some poker and beers - she needed the money and they still underestimated her. She had to use that power before they wised up to her schemes.

By the time she’d sunk down on her bed and texted Monty, the lovable engineering dork from down the hall, Octavia was already wearing her slinky dress and heels. Clarke didn’t see anything other than that, but she assumed sexy lingerie was involved as well.

“Don’t wait up for me,” O teased before heading out the door.

That left Clarke spread out on her bed in her workout clothes, debating if she was going to wait for a text from Monty or if she was just going to call it a night.

When her phone actually howled a few times - obviously Octavia had changed the text tone again - the choice was made for her.

_3 new messages: Monty G_

_Soon you will run out of gullible guys_

_but not tonight_

_Jasper is doomed_

Clarke pulled a hoodie on and headed down the hall. She was finally going to meet Monty’s stoner roommate and he had no idea what was going to happen to him. And Monty totally let her take financial advantage of all his friends - which made him the best guy in the dorm. She totally owed him.

If only she had cute friends she could introduce him to. Wait, was Monty into guys or girls? Or both? She had no idea. Oh well, poker first, set ups later.

b/c/b/c/b/c/b/c/b/c/b/c/b/c/b/c/b/c/b/c/b/c/b/c/b/c/b/c/b/c/b/c/b/c/b/c/b/c/b/c/b/c/b/c

The next morning she woke up late - or at least, it felt late. The sun was trying to make her open her eyes, but she refused to obey. She simply turned over and kept her eyes closed. It was Saturday after all, and poker had run way too late - but at least she was forty bucks richer. Oh Jasper, so clueless about her mad poker skills.

She had not heard Octavia come home, so she had all the time in the world to laze about in her silly pjs. She didn’t even have to open her eyes for a few more hours. If only her room wasn’t so damn cold.

Cold? It was not supposed to be cold in here. And why was she feeling an actual breeze on her face? Something was wrong, because she did not go to bed with the window open, and Octavia had not come in. She would have woken up if that had happened. Octavia was not subtle in any sense of the word.

Her bleary eyes opened quickly then, because this did not spell anything good. The window was open, and the screen was out, giving anyone who wanted easy access into their room. Abby’s influence had gotten them the nice first floor room facing the dense woods rather than the busy quad, but the screen was something she and O did on moving day. They unscrewed it from the frame so it could be easily removed in case of an emergency. And there were always emergency weapons drops, or those moments where they had to climb into their room in a hurry.

Unfortunately the loose screen allowed everyone that same easy access. Someone had been in the room, and maybe they were still there.

In one fluid move, she grabbed her favorite knife from the nightstand and sat up straight - only to come face to face with Bellamy. Wait, had he been watching her sleep?

He was awkwardly standing there, completely naked except for the towel wrapped around his hips. Oh God - her towel.

And he looked so damn good. Sadly, it had been ages since she’d seen him without a shirt. And apparently werewolfdom (werewolfhood? what did you call that anyway?)  was really good for a guy. It had certainly done a lot of good things for Bellamy. Where he was almost lanky before, he was now all lean muscle and sharp lines. Though, he’d always been hot. Was he just going to the gym more?

Nah, it was probably just the lycanthropy changing his body, and all the running he did as a wolf. Dogs always had a ton of energy, so maybe that applied to dog-people as well?

Was she even thinking straight right now or had her brain just melted at the sight of mostly naked Bellamy?

She’d made the half groan, half moan noise before she even realized it, and she quickly tried to cover it up with some questions.

“What the fuck, Bellamy?” she started rambling. “What are you doing here, and why are you naked in my bedroom?”

Saying the word ‘naked’ was a terrible decision, because now she had refocused on his state of undress. Were all her towels this tiny, or was she just lucky right now?

“I got out somehow,” he shrugged, trying to act like it wasn’t a big deal.

Only it was, because last night was the first night of the full moon. How could she have forgotten that? She used to be so good at keeping track of the lunar cycles - but apparently college had swallowed up all her brain functions.

“Look, I’m sorry to interrupt your beauty sleep, Princess,” the typical Bellamy Blake sass had returned, “but O told me about the window and how I could use it to get into the room in an emergency situation. I don’t exactly have a college ID.”

That much was true, but her brain was still stuck on a naked Bellamy Blake climbing into her dorm room at dawn. Somehow she could not quite forget that mental image.

“Did anyone see you?” she had to ask.

“I don’t think so,” Bellamy did not seem too worried. “But even if they did, it wouldn’t raise any red flags. What’s another naked guy running around a college campus?”

Clarke had already seen more than her share of streakers running around campus - rush week had come and gone with her muttering about brain bleach at least once a day. Though it was different when it was Bellamy. She knew Bellamy - and wanted to know him even better.

Her original plan did not involve him climbing into her dorm room naked, but she could work with that. She could, right? Because right now she was just blushing and avoiding his eyes like the high school girl she no longer was. Because Bellamy Blake was naked right in front of her - that towel did not cover nearly as much as he hoped it would.

“Where’s O?” Bellamy broke the awkward silence. “Has she been out all night?”

Probably. Clarke just assumed she fell asleep at Atom’s again after a night of… vigorous activity. But she was not about to tell Bellamy that.

“She must have fallen asleep at the library again,” she really tried not to show how ridiculous that idea was to her. “She’s always doing that.”

Had O ever even seen the campus library from the inside? Her bestie was not the kind of girl to pull that kind of all-nighter. If Octavia studied, she did it in the dorm, in the comfort of her bed, wearing her headphones and bopping her head to the music. Plus, she needed an occasional Slaying break. That wasn’t easy from the library.

“This is Octavia you’re talking about,” Bellamy did not buy it for a second. “It was a Friday night. She barely remembers the library exists on most days. Especially on the weekends. What kind of fool do you take me for?”

The kind of fool who was going to believe that his sister was a good girl who wouldn’t dream of fooling around with a random guy. If Bellamy found out about Atom, it was not going to end very well for him - or for Octavia.

“Okay, fine,” she decided to tell Bellamy the ‘real’ story. “She went to a party last night. She probably stayed at our friend Harper’s room, because she knows you won’t like her walking around unarmed during the full moon.”

So maybe Bellamy did not exactly believe that story. He looked skeptical, or as skeptical as one could look when they were mostly naked in their sister’s dorm. Clearly his memory had returned to him, as he tried to cover himself up more by crossing his arms in front of his chest. That was a dangerous choice, because the towel’s position on his hips was precarious. Any move might bring it down.

She totally was not waiting for that to happen, not at all. Okay, she totally was.

And it seemed like Bellamy had picked up on his precarious position, because he turned away, trying to find a chair to sit down in that wasn’t covered in his sister’s clothes - Octavia was kind of a total slob when she was in a hurry to get laid. Before he found any surface to sit on, she stopped him in his tracks.

“You’re bleeding!” she looked at the scratches on his back in horror, and climbed out of bed. “What the hell happened to you last night?”

Bellamy turned around awkwardly, trying to get a look at the wounds on his back. She could have told him that was not going to work right away, but she decided to let him squirm for a little bit because this stretching was kind of doing it for her.

And then it wasn’t, because there was blood under his fingernails as well, and as he inspected his hands, she finally mustered up the courage to move closer to him. There was dried blood on his face as well. This was very, very bad.

“That’s a lot of blood,” Bellamy appeared almost numb at the sight.

“Look, either you’re more flexible as a wolf than I thought,” she teased, hoping to bring a smile back to his stupid face, “or you fought another wolf last night. O and I have been seeing more paw prints on patrol. And you were locked up over the last few full moons, so it couldn’t have been you. There are others out there and you tried to fight them.”

The explanation made total sense to her. She’d been worried for a while that there were some other werewolves out there, ones who were maybe not as nice as Wolfamy. And even as a wolf, Bellamy would not take any crap from anyone.

“I guess that makes sense,” he still did not sound too sure.

“I’m gonna clean those cuts,” she explained, grabbing the first aid kit from under her bed. “It will probably sting like a bitch, but at least you won’t get fleas.”

She eyed the cuts again, and was happy to find that they had stopped bleeding. They still did not look too good, but now she believed that she could fix a lot of the mess by getting him clean - all of him.

“But you probably need to shower first,” she mused. “You can borrow my stuff.”  

Her shower caddy was up on her dresser, and she tried not to laugh at handing him all of her girly products to clean himself with. What use would her summer blonde conditioner be for poor Bellamy? And would he mind smelling strongly of jasmine? Or wearing the Hello Kitty flip flops O had gotten her as a gag gift?

“I hope this towel is big enough,” she grabbed the largest and most nondescript towel she owned, hoping to appease him. “It’s all I’ve got.”

“I’m going to smell like a flower garden,” Bellamy huffed, but accepted her caddy and the towel.

He was going to smell so very pretty when she got done with him - wait, that totally did not come out right. She meant after his shower, which she would not be involved with. He was going to do the shower thing all by himself. He was a big boy - also not helping.

“You can’t keep walking around semi-naked,” she held out her bathrobe to him, grinning mischievously, just to complete the humiliation cycle. “I’m sorry about the cupcakes.”

Yes, she owned a cupcake-print bathrobe. It was pretty and girly and soft, everything she needed after a grueling night of patrol and a hot shower. It was totally not what Bellamy needed right now, but she didn’t give a shit about that.

“No taking pictures,” Bellamy warned as he put on the robe.

It was way too short for him, exposing a lot of leg every time he took a step. Not that she minded very much. Or at all.

Before she allowed Bellamy to walk into the hallway, she made sure that there was no one there - she did not particularly want to explain about the tall, dark, handsome, and slightly bloody fellow wearing her cupcake bathrobe. The boys on her floor were basically sharks: once they smelled blood, she was dead in the water.

Luckily, none of the boys had chosen this nice Saturday morning to take a stroll down the hallway. The bathroom was maybe five doors over, so that seemed manageable. She just had to keep the idiots from noticing Bellamy for maybe a minute, until he was safely in the shower.

One door cleared, with no one around yet. Doors two and three seemed even easier. Door four was Monty’s, so she moved extra carefully, barely even letting her feet touch the floor as she passed where her friend was hopefully still sleeping. Jasper had gotten seriously drunk, so he would never wake up before noon, but Monty was a surprisingly light sleeper. But no, even door number four was easily passed.

And then came the bathroom door. The very last obstacle to the bathroom. Bellamy was following her lead, and they were totally going to make it in there without anyone seeing him. She took a deep breath and reached for the door handle, only to have the door fly open before she reached it.

Everything seemed to freeze for a minute as John Murphy, the biggest jackass on their floor, walked out of the bathroom and stopped in his tracks at the sight of Clarke and Bellamy. Mostly Bellamy, in his pretty cupcake robe, carrying her shower caddy.

Murphy’s face slowly started to show his typical asshole smirk as he processed the situation - and she knew very well what he saw and just how much ammunition that gave him. He saw goody two shoes Clarke Griffin with a man, who’d clearly spent the night. And they’d clearly been doing something something that required no clothing, because the man wasn’t wearing much of anything underneath that ugly bathrobe. Yes, plenty of ammunition there, and he did not even know the juiciest part: the man was her roommate’s brother.

In the meantime, Bellamy had gotten tired of waiting for the inevitable judgment. He just marched into the bathroom without another word, slamming the door behind him, all the while making his ‘I’m pretending there’s nothing wrong here’-face. Dork.

“Griffin, I have to say I’m impressed,” the shiteating grin on Murphy’s face told her just how many annoying comments she was in for - a ton. “I didn't peg you for the one night stand kind of girl. But I can see you’re doing pretty well for yourself there.”

This was so not helping. Knowing Murphy, he was going to be making stupid comments about this for the rest of the year, and she really did not need that. She especially didn't need him to tell Octavia anything about this. Nobody needed to know she saw Bellamy mostly naked, and nobody needed to start thinking that she had been with him all night.

“No, that’s Octavia’s brother,” she stammered defensively, trying to explain the situation.

Murphy’s smirk just got even bigger, and she realized belatedly what that implied. God, she just hoped no one had seen the claw marks on his back, or they’d be thinking even worse of her.

“It’s not what you think,” she shouted as Murphy walked away, a spring in his step.

The asshole was just inches away from actually skipping down the hall. God, she really hoped he kept his stupid mouth shut about this - yeah, she knew that was a vain hope.

“Psst, Clarke,” door number four opened, revealing Monty.

The dork gave her the thumbs up, grinning madly. She stuck her tongue out at him before slamming his door closed, hoping that would wake up a seriously hungover Jasper. That would teach him.

_To: O_

_Bellamy is in our shower. Get back here NOW!_

If Octavia was still busy with Atom, she was actually going to kill her. There was other shit to worry about right now, like a naked Bellamy.

Except no, she should not be thinking about that. It was very distracting.

_1 new message: O_

_What the hell happened?_

_To: O_

_He pulled a Houdini last night and thought our dorm was a great place to take a little doggy nap. Now hurry_

That would hopefully get O moving - fast. Clarke did not need any more rumors to surface. She needed O to come back and act completely unsurprised that Bellamy crashed at her dorm, so the guys wouldn’t think Clarke had gotten up to anything crazy with him. Because yes, while she wanted to do all that with him - and more - right now she didn’t need anything to go around the dorm that wasn’t true.

“Stupid robe,” she heard grumbled cursing coming from the bathroom after several minutes had passed.

He opened the door. This was definitely doing something for her, she pondered as she let her eyes run over his body. Even in the robe his hotness was undeniable. She wished there were more girls awake now - for once Clarke Griffin had the prize stud.

Wow, she was such a basketcase.

“I texted O,” she spoke just to break the silence. “She just woke up, but she’s going to come over ASAP. Harper’s isn’t too far away, so she’ll be here soon.”

He led the way to her room, all big steps and make haste - clearly he didn’t want to be seen in that cupcake robe. She couldn’t blame him for that. Just because the thing looked totally adorable on her didn’t mean it worked for anyone else.

“I’ve got some oversized sweats,” she offered when she closed the door behind her. “And a t-shirt that should actually fit you.”

The university had a lot of events, with a lot of free t-shirts, and what college kid didn’t like free things? But for once her thriftiness paid off. Shirtless Bellamy was going to be way too distracting for her sanity, though she still had to clean his wounds before he could cover up.

“Thanks,” Bellamy was curt, but she knew he appreciated it.

Now, she had to turn around to give him an opportunity to get dressed away from her prying eyes. She totally did not sneak a peek just as he pulled the sweats over his damn fine ass. And he totally did not catch her at it.

“Like what you see, Princess?” he smirked at her.

“Just sit down and let me get you some breakfast,” she forced herself to keep busy.

Anything to keep from thinking about how he was totally commando in her giant sweatpants, and how she could barely tell that the pants were too short on him, because they were hanging so damn low on his hips that it should have been illegal. Yes, she was not supposed to think about any of that.

“Cereal?” she grabbed a random clean bowl. “Orange juice? Or do you want some coffee? O is gonna want some coffee when she gets here.”

Bellamy sat himself down in a random chair - seriously, she had to remind O to pick up her messes more - and just stared at her while she worked. It was extremely unnerving, feeling him study her while he wasn’t wearing any damn underwear! Yes, that was the only thing she could think about.

It took her four tries to successfully turn on the coffeemaker, just because she was so damn distracted. Here she was trying to be nice while she was secretly a sex fiend. Oh god, something was seriously wrong with her.

“Need any help?” Bellamy was only making this worse, the ass.

“Make your own breakfast,” she shoved the bowl and cereal at him. “Spoons are… somewhere. I don’t know what O does with our stuff.”

The first aid kit was still on her bed where she left it, and since Bellamy still had not put on the damn shirt, she figured she would use that time to clean up his back. Some of the wounds had started bleeding again, and he needed to be all cleaned up by the time Octavia got there - she was just as overprotective as her brother, only she refused to admit to it.

“The doctor is in,” she teased as she put down a chair behind his. “Now, I’m gonna start with your back and it will probably hurt. But I’m behind you so I can’t see your tears.”

Men were such babies when it came to injuries - her father was one of the worst at dealing with something as tiny as a papercut. She wondered where Bellamy fell on that scale - but she’d soon find out.

“Listen,” he ignored her jokes, “I’m sorry to put you - ouch - out.”

She laughed; she couldn’t help herself. And she was all the more glad that he couldn’t see her face. She was sure she was bright red from where her hand was laying on his muscled back, and the heat of him was seeping into her. And he still wasn’t wearing any underwear.

Bellamy Blake was actually going to be the death of her.

“That guy earlier seemed like an ass,” Bellamy continued his little speech. “I know I’ve probably caused you a lot of trouble, but if it goes around that you were sleeping with your roommate’s brother, just brush it off. Own it. If you deny it, they’ll just think you’re lying, or embarrassed, or guilty. Everyone sleeps around in college. You’re all adults now, and they’ll stop caring pretty quickly.”

What the hell was going on here? Was Bellamy actually giving her a convoluted sex talk? About sex with him? What even was her life right now?

Her current task was patching up Bellamy - his back was looking a lot better after she got done with it, gently applying some bandages over the worst areas. Her fingers just did not get the memo that she was done playing doctor; they just continued to gently caress the dimples low on his spine. His skin was soft and warm, and she was sure her face was so very red at this point.

“Right,” she finally managed to pull herself away. “Thanks for the advice. We should just watch some TV until O gets here.”

Coffee was the only thing she could manage at this point, so she poured them both a cup and turned on the TV. There was nothing much on; it was Saturday morning after all, but the noise of the children’s programming was distracting her from Bellamy’s overwhelming presence.

With a sip of black coffee, the nectar of the gods, everything was alright with the world.

Until it wasn’t.

The harmless program they were watching was replaced by a breaking news story: the body of a little girl had been found in the woods behind campus. She had not been identified yet, because her body had been so badly mangled. Clarke felt nauseated.   
  
The kid was so damn young. She was just a little girl, and yet something had stolen her away in the middle of the night. She had been taken and then killed, her throat ripped out by giant claws. The news made sure to mention the claws, and exactly what they had done to the young girl.

She turned to Bellamy, horrified at this twist of fate. Had he really? Could he have? Was the blood...? It couldn’t have been him.

The devastation on Bellamy’s face was obvious. He just found out that the monster had won out over the man.

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Indra’s office at the high school looked ominous and creepy on a Saturday morning. The lighting was different and there were no annoying high schoolers present to make this all seem normal. On a Saturday, it was just kind of depressing.

Clarke’d texted Octavia on the way over, to skip the brief stop at home and just to come to the school. Her brother needed her here - he was distraught.

The second both she and Bellamy started to comprehend just what they were seeing on TV, he pulled on the stupid shirt and ran out the room. There was nothing else to do but follow him. So she pulled a hoodie over her dorky pajamas, stuffed her feet into her sneakers, turned off the TV and the coffeemaker, and grabbed some essentials on her way out the door. She wasn’t going to need much more than her phone and wallet anyway. She only stopped to lock the door behind her, and then she ran out after Bellamy.

On her way, she passed a couple of dorm mates, who by now knew what Murphy saw - they had to know. The fact that she was so worried just an hour or so before about her reputation, about how she was going to live this down, now seemed so damn trivial. God, Bellamy might have killed someone - how did this day go from a dream to a nightmare so damn fast?

After all the hurrying, she was left in Indra’s office, still wearing her pajamas and worrying about Bellamy, who had already locked himself in his cage at 11 AM. He was just sitting there, on the floor, facing the wall. He hugged his knees close to his body, looking like the picture of misery. The three women sitting near the TV, waiting for updates, glanced at him occasionally, but mostly focused on the news.

“They have more information,” Octavia turned up the sound on Indra’s ancient little TV.

The young girl had been identified as Charlotte Harris. She was only eight years old, and the news showed a cute picture of her dressed as a fairy princess for Halloween. Charlotte was the picture of innocence. And now she was gone.

“We don’t know for sure,” Clarke used the words as a lifeline. “We can’t be sure.”

Indra was skeptical of that, Clarke had seen it in her eyes. But she didn’t care about that; all she cared about was proving Bellamy’s innocence. It had to have been one of the other wolves. Bellamy would never harm anyone.

“We need to go speak to Raven,” Octavia decided. “If anyone can help, it’s her.”

As far as they knew, Raven was really powerful, and she was good at doing research. They could use those skills right about now. Octavia’s suggestion made sense.

“We can’t just leave Bellamy,” Clarke argued. “Someone has to stay with him.”

“I will stay,” Indra responded immediately.

Clarke glanced over her shoulder at Bellamy just once before walking out the door - he was still on the floor, curled up in shame and pain. She almost couldn’t bear to leave him like that, but she knew that leaving was the only way to get some answers.

“Where does Raven even live?” O asked, and Clarke deflated.

How had they missed that? They knew almost nothing about the witch other than her name and that she was powerful. Sure, they figured that she was about their age, but that did not mean that she went to their  college. They were idiots for not thinking this through.

“Wait a sec,” Clarke figured it out. “Let me just text Monty.”

_To: Monty G_

_Found this girl’s ID. Raven Reyes_

_Can you find out where she lives? I wanna return it in person_

“And now we wait,” she told O as they slowly strolled in the direction of campus.

“How long?” O was impatient, as usual.

_1 new message: Monty G_

_Two floors up. Room all the way in the back_

“Not that long,” Clarke teased, increasing her speed. “Raven lives in our building, only two floors above us.”

Apparently Raven was one of the exactly hundred students living in the Summers Hall dorm, the smallest dorm on campus. That certainly made things easier for them, so O and Clarke rushed over to their dorm, skipping their own room to find the third floor rooms.

“I’ve never been up here,” O looked around at a hallway that was much the same as their own. “It looks… the same. Monty said the back room, right?”

They walked the halls a little awkwardly until they found the back room. There was no sign that said this was the room that belonged to the powerful witch they’d met in the cemetery the day before. It seemed so… normal.

“Raven?” Clarke called out as she knocked on the door.

The door opened, revealing another girl, dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, looking tired. Clearly this was the roommate. She didn’t look like a witch, but then again neither did Raven.

“Raven, you have visitors again,” the girl sighed dramatically.

Wow, such a nice girl. But at least Raven appeared from behind a big bookcase, smiling at them. She looked just like the girl who’d levitated a vampire the night before, but somehow she looked equally at home in a dorm room.

“Let’s go to yours,” Raven proposed with a look at her annoyed roomie.

The roomie in question just rolled her eyes and turned up the sound on the TV. She was watching some procedural crime show, but Clarke couldn’t make out which one. They were all the same anyway, she joked as they stepped back into the hall.

“Sorry,” Raven closed the door behind her. “My roommate’s a total Muggle. We can’t exactly talk wolves in front of her.”

“Guess you lucked out in the roomie department,” O looked at Clarke with a teasing glint in her eyes.

They walked down the stairs to the first floor, laughing slightly as Clarke stuck out her tongue at her best friend. Sometimes O was just such a dork.

“Speaking of roomies,” Raven had a proud smirk on her face. “Griffin, I heard through the grapevine that you were caught having seriously hot shower sex with Octavia here’s brother. Way to go!”

Octavia actually whipped her head around and stopped walking, causing Clarke to almost run into her and make them all fall down the stairs. She should have kept walking. That way she would have died before the embarrassment set in.

“No, O, you gotta believe me,” she just started rambling, frantically trying to defend herself from the allegations. “That is not what happened at all. Bell just climbed in through the window and he was kinda gross so I made him take a shower and Murphy, and - you already know, don’t you?”

Both Raven and Octavia were laughing now, and while Clarke was sure her cheeks were still bright red with embarrassment, she could let out a sigh of relief. Of course O knew her better than that. And like Bellamy said, it was best not to deny the gossip. The quickest way to make it pass was just to act like it was true and it didn’t bother her.

She was going to need to work on that part a bit more.

“Murphy’s an asshole,” Raven said sagely. “He’ll change someday. But it is not this day.”

When they entered, Octavia went straight to her closet, trying to find something to wear that was not a glittery sexy dress and last night’s underwear. She even had the remains of last night’s makeup smeared on her face. She needed a quick clean up, and Clarke was totally okay to talk to Raven until Octavia was ready.

“So, I’m assuming you’ve watched the news,” Clarke started on the graver portion of the conversation. “And you’ve seen what happened to Charlotte.”

Raven just nodded, waiting for Clarke to continue getting to the really awful part. Because this was not the worst thing that she had to talk about with Raven. She had not even mentioned Bellamy yet. Did Raven even know about Bellamy - about his wolfy state?

“Bellamy escaped last night,” she bit the bullet. “Somehow he got out of his cage. And he had scratches on his back. And there was blood under his fingernails. He thinks he was the one who killed Charlotte. It can’t be true. It can’t be.”

Everyone would be devastated if Bellamy had anything to do with Charlotte’s death. After all, he would never consciously harm the innocent girl - so his involvement would mean that there was a huge difference between the man and the wolf. While Clarke’s parents still preached that a man carrying a wolf inside was automatically a monster, she had learned differently. No matter Bellamy’s doggy tendencies, he was still a good man. He had to be.

They just needed Raven to prove it.

“I’ll see what I can do about hacking into the medical examiner’s office,” Raven discussed her illegal practices calmly and evenly. “In the meantime, you and Octavia should talk to the Trikrews. Lincoln is a seer. And then there’s Lexa...”

Octavia had joined in, and she made a face at the word ‘seer’. With all that Octavia had been through with the whole ‘she alone stands against the forces of darkness’ business, she still refused to believe in psychics and seers. Clarke did not understand this, because why would magic be true and seers be hoaxes?

“They know more than anyone about the supernatural world,” Raven continued. “So even if you do not believe in Lincoln’s gift, they are still good people to have on your side. Lexa might be a bit intimidating at first, but her cousin Lincoln is actually a total softie underneath the tats. Especially if you tell him Raven of the Sky Coven sent you.”

The Sky Coven? Was there actually a group of witches and wizards on campus? Did she know anyone else who could do actual magic? That was just so cool.

Also, this seer… She really wanted to meet him, to hear what he had to say about Bellamy and about Octavia. She wanted him to tell her that Bellamy was not a murderer and that everything was going to be alright.

“Thank you,” Octavia would be grateful to anyone who offered to help her brother.

“Don’t mention it,” Raven shrugged. “I want this off your brother’s shoulders almost as much as you do. I have a feeling that the TonDC pack is trying to encroach on our territory again, and if anyone would kill a little girl, it would be them.”

A wolf pack? So the footprints she and Octavia had seen were real. There really were other wolves here, and they were definitely hostile. This totally lent credence to her theory that Bellamy had been in a fight with another wolf. Heck, maybe he even fought the others to defend Charlotte. That would be the best option here, having Bellamy simply be overpowered by the other weres. Bellamy couldn’t have murdered that girl.

“You’ve been very helpful,” Clarke smiled at Raven. “Thanks so much. If you ever need us to return the favor, just let us know.”

Octavia looked at her pointedly, wary at offering a supernatural carte blanche. Clarke rolled her eyes, because it was obvious that they were all on the same side here, and they were going to need all the allies they could get. She couldn’t bear to have another Wells situation if they came across another big bad. There was safety in numbers.

“If it ever comes to blows between me and Anya,” Raven made a face, “I might take you up on that. This is our town, and those TonDC wolves had best beware. I don’t care what my dork boyfriend says about trying peace talks first.”

Such love, such real love for her boyfriend. Though Clarke was all too familiar with using words like ‘dork’ as terms of affection, she wondered how a relationship would work with such fundamental difference to deal with. She couldn’t imagine being with anyone who did not share her basic philosophy in life.

She sensed there was more to this wolf pack story, but this was not the time to get into it. Not with Bellamy’s current predicament. She’d just act Raven about it another time.

“Peace is for the innocent,” Octavia was harsh. “Not for people who kill little girls.”

“Exactly,” Raven agreed. “Now, I’ll give you both my number. We should be able to reach each other without going through Monty.”

How did she know? Did Monty blab? How did Monty even know Raven? Did this mean that Monty knew about her and Octavia as well?

“He’s in my coven,” Raven went off Clarke’s questioning look. “He’s a good guy. Always makes sure I know when someone is looking for me.”

Oh Monty. Of course there was so much more to him than she first thought. Clarke made a note of it, only to make sure that she made at least half a dozen Harry Potter jokes next time she hung out with Monty. Just to annoy the shit out of him.

“Next time, we’ll just text,” Clarke promised. “Let us know if you find out anything from the medical examiner’s office.”

“Will do,” Raven saluted mockingly. “Now, back to life among the Muggles.”

Clarke and Octavia laughed as Raven stepped out the door, happy to have Raven on their side. For a minute, it was nice to just think about the friendship they might share in the future, before they had to go back to thinking about Bellamy’s predicament and little Charlotte.

“Let’s call Indra,” O decided.

She didn’t even need to dial the number - O just used speeddial to start the call.

“Indra?” she asked after hitting the speakerphone button. “We talked to Raven. She gave us a lead on a seer who might be able to help with this situation. I want to go talk to him as soon as I can.”

So it had been decided that Octavia would go meet with the seer and his cousin. Or rather, Octavia had made that call without discussing it - not that Clarke blamed her, because she knew how much O cared about her brother. She wanted to see this problem solved as soon as possible.

“I will stay here and watch your brother tonight,” Indra seemed to agree.

“I actually think he might be more comfortable if Clarke or I are with him,” Octavia changed the plan again. “And since I’m going to the seers….”

Ah yes, she had a feeling she knew where this was going.

“Clarke, would you mind?” O turned to her. “Can you babysit Bell tonight? He really needs someone there, and he trusts you. I really don’t want him to have to turn alone tonight. Plus, you’re a hunter, so you’re trained to track and bring down werewolves. If he does manage to get out you’re the best choice to hunt him down and knock him out before he hurts someone.”

She was totally not excited about getting even more alone time with partially naked Bellamy - today was a good day in that respect. She was pretty apprehensive though. What was she supposed to say to him? She didn’t really think he killed this girl, but if he did… If he did, she’d have to do her duties as a hunter.

If they found out that Bellamy had killed that girl, she’d have to tell her parents. And they would want to put him down. She wasn’t sure if she would be able to live with that.

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Once again she was back at the office, but at least this time she wasn’t wearing her pajamas and a hoodie. Both she and O had taken their time showering and putting on decent clothes. They even went by Bellamy’s place to get him some actual clothes - mostly some fucking _underwear_ \- and they went by the store to grab some snacks for Clarke’s all night stakeout. She was going to need those disgusting energy drinks.

“Bell?” O tried to coax her brother out of the cage. “Can we talk for a minute? Preferably with you not behind bars?”

Bellamy did not say anything, but he started to move from his safe little corner. It took him a few moments, but eventually he stepped away from the bars and into the actual office area.

“What is it?” he tried to project a tough attitude.

“We talked to our witchy friend,” O started with the update. “She’s going to check some things out and get back to us. She had a few contacts, one of them a seer, who might be able to help. So I’ll be going to visit these people. Clarke’s gonna stay with you until I’m back.”

Bellamy was ready to use the b-word: babysitting. And yes, she totally understood why he would resent that, but she hoped that he also understood why it was necessary. He never wanted to hurt anyone ever again.

“I see you drew the short straw,” Bellamy looked to Clarke for that comment.

“I volunteered,” she told her white lie teasingly. “I just wanted to spend even more time with you today. Heck, I can bring out the bathrobe and we can really have fun.”

The look that O gave them both after that was hilarious. It was not just the suspicion, it was more the ‘what the _fuck_ is going on with you two’ part that just did Clarke in. Even Bellamy almost cracked a smile.

“What are you talking about?” O just had to ask. “What bathrobe? You mean, the cupcake robe? What even is going on here?”

She actually shared secrets with Bellamy now - fun secrets about semi-naked Bellamy that she was not going to share with anyone, especially not with his sister. It was nice to see him smile again, even briefly.

“I have snacks and real clothes,” Clarke offered. “You know you want to wear underwear again - unless you’re a commando kind of guy. I mean, I wouldn’t know, and I’m going to shut up now.”

Wow, her brain-to-mouth filter appeared to have gone missing for a minute there. She was also totally not thinking about how Bellamy still wasn’t wearing any underwear, her sweatpants still low on his hips. At least he wasn’t semi-naked again, because if she had to be around a mostly naked Bellamy for most of the day, she probably would have died. Of mortification.

“I’m going home now,” Indra just had to interrupt the fun. “Both of you: call me if anything happens. Otherwise we’ll meet back here later when Octavia gets back from the seer.”

With a firm nod at Clarke, Indra walked right out the door, with Octavia following on her heels. And just like that Clarke was alone with Bellamy - again. They had a few hours left before he would turn, and she had no idea how to fill that time. How did one entertain a depressed werewolf? Get him to chase his own tail? Take him for a walk? Bellamy didn’t exactly have a leash. Wow, the dog jokes were not helping.

“Let’s eat,” she started digging through the piles of food Octavia had grabbed. “O made a couple of doggy bags for you.”

Okay, maybe one more dog joke. Because it was so damn easy.

“Shut it, princess,” Bellamy didn’t actually sound upset.

“O has all your disgusting favorites,” she threw one of the bags in his direction. “Thank God she let me pack my own food.”

The light mood wasn’t around for long, because as soon as Bellamy finished the little food he was able to eat, he escaped into the bathroom. Even though there was still an hour or so left before the moon rose, he walked straight into the cage and started to strip.

Oh God. She turned away from the cage immediately, sitting with her back to Bellamy. She didn’t want to look, didn’t want to think about how he was naked just inches away from her _again_. What a day this had been, what a day. She just wanted it to pass, wanted it to be tomorrow when things went back to normal and Bellamy wasn’t a murderer.

“Clarke?” Bellamy called out to her.

She was hesitant to turn around, wondering if he’d managed to find the towel they’d left for him in the cage. But when she turned, he was at least partly covered by the faded grey fabric - it was way too tiny to cover enough of him to make her feel at ease. Then again, she would only be at ease if most of his body was covered by fabric.

“Yes, Bellamy?” she spoke mostly to make sure he knew she was listening.

“I need you to chain me up,” Bellamy said, and she swore she wasn’t hearing him right.

Did he actually just ask her that? Was this reality or did she end up in the porno version of her life by accident? That was the only explanation for the stuff that had been going on here - but then again, there had been too much plot and too little porn for that to work. But why would Bellamy ask her to chain him up in his cage?

She was just so done with this shit. After the day she’d had, she probably deserved a nomination for sainthood - so much time with semi-naked Bellamy and so little of it spent being a normal teenager. There were too many concerns about monsters and murder for her to appreciate the sights of the day.

“Bellamy,” she sighed, not knowing how to respond to his request.

He had been through hell and back today, she knew that much. How horrifying it must have been to consider the possibility that you had hurt someone. Without wanting to, without even being aware of what you had done until it was much too late to do anything about it. Just because some idiot had to bite him, he was now doomed. Poor Bellamy.

“Please, Clarke,” Bellamy’s voice was close to breaking.

After that, did she even have a choice? How could she do anything but walk into his cage, standing over his mostly naked body?

Damn it Clarke! This was not the time to think of how much of his skin was revealed by that skimpy towel. She could see pretty much all of his strong thighs - stop blushing Clarke - and how they curved up to his ass. The towel covered so little. Bellamy was probably too upset to be self conscious or embarrassed at this point, but she was self conscious and embarrassed enough for the both of them. Her cheeks were flaming red and she no longer knew where to look.

“Lucky for us Indra keeps so many chains, huh?” she awkwardly tried to make small talk.

What did one say to their crush when they chained them up inside a cage? There was nothing she could do to make the situation any less terrible.

“Lucky me,” Bellamy was not amused.

“Look, I didn’t mean it like that,” she stammered. “I’m sorry.”

A manacle in one hand, and Bellamy’s wrist in the other - it probably made her quite the picture. Not that anyone was there to see it. Once again, it was just her and Bellamy, and everyone was relying on her to keep him and any potential victims safe. She did not want to complain or worry about the pressure, but… it was a little scary.

The manacle closed around Bellamy’s wrist with a click that sounded deafening to her ears. She was doing what her parents did to errant wolves before they killed them. With trembling hands, she reached for the rest of the chain.

“This is a total nightmare,” Bellamy suddenly spoke up. “I never wanted to be a monster.”

He was _not_ a monster. Bellamy Blake was a better person than most, and it would kill him if it turned out that he had hurt little Charlotte.

“It sucked when I first changed,” it seemed that Bellamy needed to let off some steam. “I thought I’d get used to it over time, but… how can I? How can I get used to living with this awful guilt? That girl is dead and it’s all my fault!”

None of that was right, and she couldn’t stand to hear it from him. She couldn’t think about her stupid crush or the awkwardness of the situation. All she could think of was that Bellamy needed to know how wrong he was about this. He needed to know that he was not a monster, no matter what happened.

“You’re a great person, Bellamy,” she started off awkwardly, pausing to find the right words to say. “Yes, this wolf thing, it’s a part of you. But you’re not the monster.”

She saw how the words didn’t quite reach him, so she took his unshackled hand in hers and prepared to get vulnerable in front of him. He needed her to be honest and real right now.

“You were there when Wells died,” they both pretended her voice did not crack on his name, “and you’re always there for O. You’re always there for me. No matter what kind of shit O and I pull, you’re going to be on our side. And I’m on yours. I’ll always be on your side. And if you need forgiveness, okay. I will give it to you. You’re forgiven.”

The way he looked at her was making her heart pound. He was solely focused on her, as if the words she was saying needed to come from her and only her. As if what she said would have been meaningless if it had come from anyone else.

She meant those words with every fiber of her being.

“I am going to be here with you all night,” she vowed passionately. “I’m not going to leave you alone for a second, and I’ll be here when you wake up. If that’s what you need me to do for the rest of our lives, to make sure that you never get out again, I’ll do it. Bellamy, the very fact that you don’t want to get out means that you’re not a monster.”

And after all that, all that she could do was chain up the arm she was holding. She watched his every move, ready to stop if he showed even a single sign of having changed his mind about this. But he never even flinched.

Was she hoping for a thank you? Perhaps. Was it okay that he didn’t say anything, instead choosing just to look at her as if she’d just hung the moon? Yes, yes, it was. Anything he said would have just made things weird. Probably.

On her way out of the cage, she took his clothes. He was going to need something to wear in the morning. Wolfamy had the regrettable tendency to destroy any clothes left out in his cage - they had learned that the hard way.

And now came the really awkward part: folding Bellamy’s clothes, while they were still warm from the heat of his body. Folding his used boxer briefs? While she really tried not to get embarrassed by that, it was still a little too much for her, and so the awkward silence continued. What else could she say after the epic speech she’d given him?

This was way beyond anything their relationship had been up until this point. She’d stepped over the perceived line without hesitation and with everything she had - because he mattered so much to her. Still, now there was all this tension, and he was back to his moping.

“Okay, be real with me Blake,” she decided to end the awkwardness with comedy. “Were you watching me sleep this morning? ‘Cause I didn’t hear you come in, and you could’ve been there for hours. Just watching me. Pulling an Edward Cullen or something.”

Bellamy turned a bit red at that, and she rejoiced in finally having an effect on him, when it had been the other way around for so long. She was getting to him!

“No,” Bellamy spoke defensively and quickly. “I took a nap.”

Okay, so maybe that was true, but why would he be so defensive if it was? Maybe he had looked at her - maybe he saw something in her after all. God, her wishful thinking was getting bad.

“Sleeping on the foot of the bed?” she had to make another stupid dog joke. “Mine or O’s?”

They were still bantering when he turned - so many dog jokes, so little time.

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Clarke did not get any sleep that night, consumed as she was with making sure that he didn’t escape. She never wanted to see that guilt rest on his shoulders again, and so she eyed the cage all night, only taking bathroom breaks when the need arose from sipping too many energy drinks to keep herself awake.

The caffeine made her anxious, and Wolfamy rattling his chains and howling made it even worse. It was bad enough that she could hardly draw - she really would have liked to have a drawing of Bellamy in his wolf form, all lupine grace and anger. Or one of him halfway through the change. Either way, he made a beautiful subject for her twitchy fingers.

It had not been terribly hard to stay awake at first. Sure, she almost nodded off a couple of times, but either the howls or the sound of the chains shocked her into wakefulness.

And now she was so damn sleepy, but the sun was coming up, and she knew that Bellamy had turned just seconds ago. So she unlocked the cage, put his fresh clothes inside the door, and covered him up with the blanket she’d used to keep herself warm. Because she was sure he did not want to show his naked butt to the world - but what a fine butt it was.

When she stepped in further, she saw that he had yet to rouse. Still, she took the key and unlocked the manacles, feeling terrible when she noticed that both his wrists were rubbed raw. She placed both his hands gently at his side, hoping not to wake him up yet - he deserved a little more sleep before he had to face the harsh realities of the world.

O had called, not saying much other than that she would be back in the morning with more news about the Bellamy situation. God, Clarke really hoped that it was good news.

Then, she heard a sound coming from the cage. It seemed that Bellamy was starting to wake up from his slumber. About time, sleepyhead.

She turned to look at him and was lost. His eyes were still half closed, blinking against the daylight, and his hair was deliciously mussed. Yeah, his chest area was a little scratched up from biting and scratching himself, but how could she worry about that when he was squinting sleepily at her and almost smiling?

“Hey Griffin,” Bellamy’s voice was still rough with sleep. “Were you watching me sleep?”

Oh, damn him.

“Put your pants on, smartass,” she rolled her eyes at him.

She was totally not swayed by his stupid face and his stupid everything. How did he look this hot after being chained up all night?

Her phone howled then, and Bellamy actually grinned at that. One day she was going to be able to keep O from changing her text tone.

_2 new messages: O_

_Bellamy didn’t do it_

_I’ll be there soon to celebrate_

Relief flooded her, and she wondered if her legs might give out. This was the best news she could have received. She couldn’t wait to tell Bellamy.

“That was O,” she explained for no reason. “You didn’t do it.”

There were no words to describe the look on Bellamy’s face, no way to explain the sheer relief and momentary agony that went through him. He was still only covered by a blanket, but he was unconcerned with whatever might be on display, at least for a moment. Because he was innocent, and nothing else mattered then.

“I didn’t do it,” he spoke.

It seemed to be a message to himself, a way to help make himself believe it. Like he hadn’t quite let the message into his heart yet. He hadn’t let himself believe yet. But he was starting to. He was starting to see his own innocence.

“You didn’t hurt that girl,” she told him again, just to be sure.

“I know,” Bellamy sighed.

He’d shifted a little, and the damn blanket was showing a little too much of him for her to be able to look at him without getting all awkward.

“Good,” she was starting to blush again. “Now put some clothes on.”

Naked Bellamy was getting to her.

Finally, the idiot pulled on his pants, smirking at her all the while. He still wasn’t wearing a damn shirt, and she was very tempted to throw in some snarky comment, but then she decided to just let him have this one moment. He’d been through enough already, and she did not need to make things worse.

So she grabbed the salve from Indra’s first aid kit and walked back into the cage. She sat down right in front of him and tried really hard to look at his injuries and nothing else. Whether it was working, well…. Not so much.

“My eyes are up here, Princess,” Bellamy teased her mercilessly.

Oh, she knew very well what she would see if she dared to look into those dark eyes. They were all mischief and promises that heated her blood - but did he really mean those or was that just his relief talking? She hadn’t spent time with a lighthearted and flirtatious Bellamy in what seemed like forever. She’d forgotten how heady his attention to her was.

“And your wounds are down here,” she tried to keep from blushing.

“You wound me,” Bellamy held her hand over his heart. “Right here.”

That was how Octavia found them; Clarke blushing madly as Bellamy pressed her hand against his naked chest. He was just telling her how she could make it better when Octavia threw her bag on the floor of the office.

“Not this again,” O was not amused. “What the hell? You weirdos!”

Clarke pulled her hand away from Bellamy’s chest as if burned, staring at the jar of salve on the floor as if it held the answers to all the questions in the universe. She’d barely finished with his first wrist when she got so damn distracted by him.

Her phone rang then. There was no wolf howling, instead it was the customized ringtone she’d chosen for her mother: the Police’s _Every Breath You Take_. Her mother never called unless it was important, and the concern in the pit of her stomach rose up.

She had a bad feeling about this.

“Mom?” she picked up quickly, not even taking another glance at Bellamy.

“Clarke, you have to come home _now_ ,” her mother was using her doctor voice - this was worse than awful.

It sounded like something was wrong - there was a sense of urgency to Abby’s voice that made her inexplicably nervous. Without another word, her mother hung up on her and Clarke was left reeling. What else was there to do but follow her mother’s orders to the letter?

“I have to go,” she told her friends, awkwardly grabbing her bag and jacket. “My mom needs me.”

There was no time to discuss the ramifications of Bellamy’s innocence, not when her mother put on her doctor voice on the phone. There was always a reason, and it was never a good one.

She ran all the way home, not caring about how she looked or how out of breath she was when she arrived. This was more important than those superficial concerns.

“What’s wrong?” she threw open the door, bag swinging over her shoulder.

“Clarke,” Marcus Kane, her mother’s co-worker was standing in the foyer. “Your parents are upstairs. They wanted to tell you in person.”

Why was Kane here? He worked mostly in the pathology department, and while her mother had gone so far as to call him brilliant from time to time, there was nothing they could possibly need him for. Unless… Someone was dead. Or dying.

“Oh God,” she breathed, running up the stairs two steps at a time.

She almost slammed into the door post, and her arm banged against the wall on her way to her parents’ room. And there they were, sitting together, both crying. Abby Griffin was distraught, Jake Griffin holding his wife close to him as fat tears rolled down his cheeks. That told her enough about how serious the situation was, but the thing that really drove the point home was the bandage on her father’s shoulder.

That was no ordinary cut.

“What happened?” she panted, holding on to the wall for support.

“Clarke,” her father finally noticed her presence. “Come sit with me.”

If the wound under that bandage was what she thought it was, she knew their fate. She knew what had to happen. But that did not mean she had to like it.

“What happened?” she repeated her question.

“Clarke, baby,” her father held out his arms, and she flew into his embrace. “You know how this works. It was just another hunt. Nothing special. Until it was.”

It shouldn’t have been. It should have been just another night - it should not have been a farewell to the most important man in her life.

“Did you kill it?” she asked, ready to strap on a bow and kill the monster herself.

“I didn’t have the time,” Jake Griffin stroked his daughter’s hair gently. “I wanted to spend my time with you and your mom. You are what’s important to me.”

Why would her time with her father have to come to an end? There had to be another way! There was always another way to do things! The Code was wrong in this, and she would do whatever she had to to make sure that her father came out on the other end of this. Jake Griffin had to live.

“How much time?” Jake broke the silence, looking up at his wife.

“A few more minutes,” Abby visibly steeled herself.

“Mom, you can’t do this!” Clarke turned to face her mother. “We can keep him safe! We can keep him from hurting people. We’ll just have to lock him up a few nights a month. That’s all!”

She had done that with Bellamy, she would do it with her father. She would chain him up three nights a month and stand watch over him herself if need be. She would break all the Code’s rules to keep him around.

“No exceptions, Clarke,” Abby patiently explained. “It’s in the Code.”

“Screw the Code!” Clarke angrily wiped at her tears. “This is Dad we’re talking about!”

How could her mother even think of following the Code in this situation? The Code had only one solution to getting the Bite: death. But when the person who was bitten was your husband - how could Abby Griffin not seek a different path? Jake wanted a different path, he had to want more than death. But women called the shots - Abby wanted to follow the rules. Abby wanted him dead.

“Clarke, baby,” Jake tried to soothe her. “I love you. Please calm down, honey. I need you to be strong for me.”

Was her father going to let this happen to him?

“You can’t do this!” Clarke screamed, hysterical.

The door opened then, and Marcus Kane entered, together with Thelonius Jaha and several other hunters. They had come for her father, they had come to take him. And she would not let that happen.

“Let him go!” she lashed out, trying to hold on to Jake with all her might, even as the men tried to peel her away from her father.

“Clarke Griffin, stop that,” Abby was not on her side anymore. “This is law. I have made the decision, and you are to follow it. You know what’s at stake!”

Her father’s life was at stake, and that was all that mattered. So she scratched and punched and fought like hell, even though she was all alone against a room full of people who would sooner let her father die than have a thought that did not conform to the code.

Someone grabbed her arm and jammed a needle into it. Then, everything went black.

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They did the deed before the sedative they injected her with wore off. She didn’t even get the chance to say goodbye - they took that from her along with her father. Her mother grounded her and took her phone, so she hadn’t even been able to talk to O.

Surely the message had gotten out by now, but she really needed her best friend. Who else would she talk to in the middle of the night? She hadn’t been able to sleep since she woke up from the damn sedative, and she was too heartbroken and angry at her mother to do anything but lie in bed. She couldn’t even cry anymore.

She needed to be anywhere but at this damn house. If she had to hear another person offer their condolences to her mother, or if she had to look at her mother playing the grieving widow one more time, she was going to lose it - again. She needed fresh air, she needed her best friend, and she really needed a good fight.

So she snuck out her window the second her guard dogs - children of fellow hunters - fell asleep. She grabbed a stake and left the bow - she was with Bellamy for the third night of the full moon, so she didn’t need it. And away she went to the Blake residence. Her showing up at the dorm when she was supposedly unable to come to class might have set a few fingers wagging.

Within minutes, she was at the Blake house. Before she even considered the possibility that Octavia wasn’t there, she’d entered the house and walked straight into the living room.

That appeared to be filled with people.

“Clarke!” Octavia rushed over and wrapped her arms around her.

“O,” she sighed, finally feeling ready to cry.

“I’m so glad you’re here,” Octavia was still hugging her. “I’m so sorry.”

Her best friend did not even have to say what she was sorry about. They just understood each other without all the extra words. And they needed that brief moment that was just the two of them.

“Hey Princess,” Bellamy made the nickname sound like an endearment.

He squeezed her hand briefly and didn’t say anything else, which was the sweetest thing he could have done for her at this point. Indra laid a hand on her shoulder briefly, and then Bellamy led her to the middle spot on the couch, right between him and O.

It was only when Bellamy glared at the man sitting in the chair across from the couch that she realized that there was a stranger present. The dark-skinned man was eyeing her with kindness, when he wasn’t looking at Octavia. There was a vibe there - she could tell - and it totally explained why Bellamy did not like him much. What a dork.

“You must be Lincoln,” Clarke decided as she eyed the stranger. “I’m Clarke. Now, update me on what it is I’ve missed.”

The tears were mostly forgotten by her in favor of focussing on the job at hand. There were more important things going on than her damn grief. Like the safety of everyone in this town if there was someone or something going around killing little girls. And biting not so little fathers.

“Well, this mess started a few months ago,” Octavia started the story, looking at Lincoln for verification. “The local pack’s alpha, her name is Anya, she disappeared. Ever since then, Lincoln’s cousin Lexa has been fighting her way to becoming the alpha. She’s absorbed a lot of other packs from the regions, making them into one big pack.”

So there was a giant pack of dangerous werewolves in town? Yes, that was excellent news for them. Everything O had said so far sounded like some other wolf had just decided they were going to be the next leader of the pack, and they’d made Anya disappear. Maybe it was Lincoln’s cousin.

But it was obvious someone did not want this Anya person in charge any longer.

“Some of the packs are dangerous,” Lincoln took over in his deep, warm voice, warning them all of the dangers. “They’re very bloodthirsty. But Lexa is not like that. She’s smart, and strong. She’s young, but she’s powerful and people respect her. She’s got pretty good control over her pack these days.”

Somehow Clarke doubted that all these bloodthirsty wolves would just give up their power to a young girl just because she smiled pretty and fought a few men. These animals were not the type to just fall in line - one of them could have killed Charlotte, could have hurt her father. It could have been their fault that they were in this mess.

“So, let me get this straight,” Bellamy leaned forward in his seat, his thigh brushing Clarke’s. “There is an army of werewolves in town. Why have I heard nothing about this?”

“You’re a hermit,” Clarke rolled her eyes at him.

If it weren’t for Nathan Miller, she would be worried about him. Seriously, he did not have a single other friend, and he spent most of his time hanging out with his younger sister and her best friend. That did not an exciting social life make.

“You are,” Octavia agreed. “You spend all your time with us, you loser.”

Bellamy’s insulted face was a delight, and despite everything Clarke found that she couldn’t help but crack a smile. Octavia was just being a good little sister and teasing him. And he knew it, but he was still a big brother, he had to be a dork about it.

“You got any better ideas?” Bellamy joked in return.

“I might,” Lincoln said. “There is a whole underworld that neither Octavia nor Clarke can have access to. You, as a wolf, will be able to integrate yourself into that community.”

That actually made sense - Bellamy had opportunities she didn’t have. She was a hunter, she would stand out, and so would Octavia. Bellamy could be the inside man.

“There’s a bar on Mecha Street,” Lincoln continued. “It’s supernaturals only. You can eavesdrop, see what you can learn that might help your sister.”

She had never even heard of that place before, so that meant it was probably legit. And something she had to hide from her parents - her mom. None of the hunters could ever find out about that place or they would burn it to the ground and kill everyone in it. And they needed that place to get some valuable intel.

“Wait,” Clarke wanted to get back on track. “Go back to the pack. Does this mean that it was one of them that killed Charlotte?”

“Lexa is denying it,” O shrugged.

She certainly sounded skeptical about this Lexa person, which was interesting. If O really liked this Lincoln guy, and Clarke was thinking she did, why would she be so eager to slam his cousin with him right there? Something about Lexa must have really put her on edge.

“Lexa has enforced the new rules with her pack,” Lincoln didn’t quite agree with Octavia’s tone. “If any of her wolves attack humans, they’re immediately executed. And they are not just monsters. Lexa is using her gift to teach them how to control the change. In the future, most wolves will be able to change back and forth at will.”

It sounded like a pipe dream to her, to be honest, and kind of dangerous. But luckily a knock on the door spared her from having to crush the hopes of Octavia’s latest crush.

Raven and Monty showed up together, and while Raven just kinda stood there and smiled sadly at her, Monty went in for the hug. He was a damn good hugger too, and even though it was 1 am and she was (emotionally) exhausted, it was great to have all of her friends by her side - any second now Miller would show up with beers and a stupid joke.

“Clarke,” Bellamy was trying to get her attention.

“No,” she whispered to him, trying to avoid his concerned glances.

She was already getting those looks from everyone else, but she really couldn’t stand them coming from Bellamy. She never wanted him to send her pitying or worried looks.. She was an adult and she would handle things by herself.

“So I hacked into the coroner’s online records,” Monty’s opening sentence to the group was pure gold, “and even though the little girl was mauled, the cause of death was blood loss. She was drained of the majority of blood in her body before she was ripped to shreds.”

While Clarke really didn’t need any of the graphic details about the little girl’s death, this totally exonerated not only Bellamy but every other wolf in town.

“So it was staged?” O asked what they all suspected. “Some vamp made it look like a wolf attack?”

“That’s what it seems like according to the autopsy,” Raven sat down on the edge of the couch.

“Wait a sec,” Bellamy appeared to be on to something. “Does this mean someone is trying to get the pack to go to war with the hunters?”

That was when hell broke loose, everyone talking over one another, worrying about their own safety or about the consequences of such a war. Because the idea made a startling amount of sense.

“Everyone stop,” Indra called everyone to order. “If this is true, we need a plan.”

Indra commanded authority, so everyone stopped talking all at once, from cacophony to silence within seconds.

“We need to meet with the pack,” Octavia decided, turning to look at Clarke. “Or, the hunters need to meet with them.”

“It’s not going to happen,” Clarke knew that all too well. “They won’t go for that, especially after… what happened with my dad.”

Just saying the words in her choked voice stung. Her eyes misted. The damn reminders wouldn’t stop hitting her over and over again. Everywhere she went, everything she did or said or thought reminded her of her father, and how she didn’t get the chance to say goodbye to him. And now she never would.

“You will meet with Lexa on their behalf,” Indra had decided. “Octavia, you and Lincoln can arrange that, can you?”

The two nodded firmly, and just like that, the agreement had been made. Clarke’s next actions had been decided for her again, and she really wanted to be angry about that, but this time she knew that this was the best course to take. They had to fix the rift between the hunters and the pack before it got any wider. She was the only one who could do that.

“Time for everyone to go home,” Indra ordered.

Home? Back to her prison, back to where her guard slept briefly. Had they already noticed her escape? Would her mother be angry? Did she even care?

“Clarke,” Bellamy stopped her from leaving. “Let me walk you home. I don’t want you to be alone.”

So it was going to be worried looks and babysitting after all. Sure, she did not want to go home, and she was tempted to stay outside a little while longer just to avoid the inquisition that would occur the second she stepped into the house. Shit, she just wanted to go back to the dorm. She didn’t want to be under the same roof as her mother any longer - not after what she did.

Still, she let Bellamy escort her home, mostly because she actually liked having him around, and she wanted to pretend that she was normal. Just another teenager having a cute guy walk her home after a night out with friends.

A life like that sounded boring and just lovely right about now. Maybe that girl still had a father.

“Are you sure you can do this?” Bellamy just had to ask as they approached her house.

“You’re only doing this because I stayed with you last night,” she sighed. “And because I was so nice to you.”

The look on Bellamy’s face was downright ugly. Oh shit, he was actually really pissed. She’d really stepped in it now, and she was going to hear all about how wrong she was in five, four, three, two…. Nothing.

He said nothing. Until...

“I’m worried about you,” Bellamy stopped her, right outside her window. “I’m sorry about your dad. What happened was terrible, and I know the last thing you want to do now is sleep, but you can’t talk to Lexa if you’re delusionally tired. You are barely keeping it together, Princess.”

She didn’t let the tears out until she climbed inside her bedroom, but once she’d let them out, there was no stopping them. She just broke down as Bellamy followed her inside, falling onto her bed while desperate, silent sobs wracked her body. If she made too much sound, someone would find them and kick Bellamy out. She did not want anyone to know that she was losing it. Clarke Griffin was no wilting flower - she would not show weakness.

“I know, Clarke,” Bellamy whispered soothingly. “I know.”

Bellamy was sitting on the floor next to the bed, not caring about how that awkward position might hurt his back. He just held her hand in his, soothingly rubbing circles with his thumb.

“I’ll stay until you fall asleep,” Bellamy promised.

“You don’t have to,” she argued, frantically wiping away some stray tears.

Her head was on the pillow, right next to him. Their heads were so very close together, and while that made the whispering easier, but it also made things tense. She was close enough to count the many freckles on his face - she loved a guy with freckles.

“I will be right here,” Bellamy refused to leave.

For a second she thought he was leaning in, but then her eyes drifted closed and she finally fell asleep.

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Bellamy was long gone when she woke up. He’d left a note, telling her he’d be there every night if need be, and that he’d see her soon. The ‘soon’ was underlined three times.

_3 new messages: O_

_Lincoln set up your meet with Lexa_

_2 PM_

_Woods behind the school_

That was only half an hour from now - she’d been sleeping for way too long. Luckily her mom had already excused her from classes for the next week or so, otherwise she would be in even more trouble.

The escape from the house was easier the second time around, even though she was doing it in broad daylight this time. Her mother was at work - the hospital didn’t pause for Abby Griffin’s faked grief - and the guard dogs clearly weren’t as smart as her mother had thought they were. They actually left her alone in her room, probably thinking she was still sleeping.

“Idiots,” she muttered, already out the window and home free.

Clarke kept her run to a decent speed, trying to make sure she wasn’t too out of breath when she arrived at the meeting. It was supposed to be a one on one meeting, but she was sure Lexa wasn’t stupid enough to come alone. Clarke already knew that Octavia would be patrolling near the school just in case backup was necessary.

That was what friends were for.

Within a few minutes she was at the edge of the woods. An awkwardly waving tree branch proved that she was not alone, but that the witch in these woods was friendly. Raven was here - her friends were proper warriors.

“You must be Clarke,” a young girl approached her quickly and silently. “I am Lexa Trikrew.”

She must have been Clarke’s age, but she looked younger. She looked almost innocent, with wide eyes and long hair, dressed ever so plainly. It was a trick, to fool her into thinking this Lexa was going to be easy to deal with - behind those wide eyes shone a clever ruthlessness that almost made Clarke take a step back. Lexa was no innocent child - how could she be when she forced packs of ruthless killers to fall in line?

“Pleasure,” Clarke was businesslike and to the point.

“Lincoln has told me about you,” Lexa stepped closer, an intimidation tactic. “You would speak for the hunters, but you do not agree with them.”

So the veneer of innocence disappeared quickly - all the better, because Clarke was not here to play power games. She was here to share information, and to keep the conflict between the packs and the hunters from escalating even further.

“The hunters have nothing to do with the disappearance of your leader,” Clarke held her head high. “Just as you have nothing to do with the death of Charlotte Harris.”

“This is true,” Lexa nodded. “Your hunters think otherwise.”

Lexa had an oddly formal way of speaking - all declarative statements and no emotions showing in her voice, or in her stance. She stood and spoke like a warrior, like someone who lived for the fight and the fight only. Lexa was an Alpha.

“Our friends did some research,” Clarke attempted to explain. “They discovered that the attack was made to look like a werewolf did it. Do you have any enemies who might want to set you up for this?”

Still, Lexa barely showed any reaction to her words. There was a calm to her that Clarke had never seen in Bellamy, the only other werewolf she’d talked to. Bellamy held his anger on a tight leash, but occasionally that leash snapped. With Lexa, it seemed like the opposite was true. She had no fury to unleash - or had she?

“I have many enemies,” Lexa continued to be calm. “Many men don’t like it when a young girl beats them in a fight.”

Clarke knew that from experience - vampires took it as a personal offense when she or Octavia beat them in a fight. And the male hunters she’d sparred with were even worse - male egos were ridiculously fragile. She could never be with anyone that insecure and that desperate to use machismo to prove themselves (she had yet to spar with Bellamy, and she wondered how he might respond).

“Are any of your enemies vampires?” Clarke was getting impatient. “Charlotte Harris was drained of most of the blood in her body.”

“Mountain Men,” Lexa showed an emotion for the first time - just a twitch of concern.

Who were these people who actually made Lexa’s blank face move? Sure, Arktown was close to the mountain range, but no one lived there. It was too dangerous, with the cliffs and jagged edges that would kill even the most experienced climbers and hikers. No, there were no men in the mountains - or were there?

“Who are they?” Clarke had to know.

“They are vampires,” Lexa said only the obvious. “They believe the mountains are their territory. They do not allow wolves there. Anya was going to treat with them when she disappeared. She was not the only one.”

Werewolves and vampires were natural enemies, or so the books at her house say. Of course, they did fight over the same prey. It kind of made sense.

“And Charlotte wasn’t the only child found with their throat ripped out,” Clarke sighed.

“My pack has smelled them in the cemetery,” Lexa was starting to open up to her. “And the blood bank has been robbed twice that we know of.”

Clarke had heard that before. O had been saying some of the same things. She’d had some trouble with her Spidey sense, because it was all tingle and no vamp. O was actually starting to think something was wrong with her - Clarke was glad she could set the story straight on that point.

“Octavia, the Slayer, she’s mentioned that as well,” Clarke elaborated. “Look, we can’t let this happen.”

It was much too late for her to be able to let this go. These people had killed children, and they had made her friends think that Bellamy was the cause of it all. She was forever going to blame these vamps for their pain, for that tense night she spent outside that cage, watching Bellamy fall apart as a human and a wolf.

“They are kidnapping wolves and killing humans,” Lexa stated. “They must be eradicated.”

“Yes, they must,” Clarke agreed, already starting to form a plan. “And there’s no way to do that on our own. We have to work together.”

Did she like Lexa? Not particularly, at this point. But did they need her strength and her pack for the fight against these Mountain Men? Probably. Clarke could not hope to enter the mountains by herself, or even with O and Bellamy. They needed help, even someone as potentially dangerous as Lexa.

“I will not cooperate with hunters,” Lexa stood steadfast. “They would as soon kill us as they would dispose of the vampires.”

Her mother was not going to work with Lexa - those two were never going to agree. Abby Griffin would should Lexa before she even had the chance to open her mouth. Because if she’d kill her own husband, she surely wouldn’t hesitate to kill a stranger.

So it was best to keep her own world far away from her mother and the hunter world.

“Would you cooperate with the Slayer and her friends?” Clarke asked. “We can treat with you as long as you do not harm humans or other innocents.”

Lexa stepped in closer, trying to get a measure of Clarke, trying to see if she would back down. Clearly the other girl did not know her very well, because Clarke just stepped in closer to Lexa, getting right up in her personal space. She was not going to be intimidated by some typical predator gesture - she was a hunter, not the prey.

“I will only treat with you if your hunters do not kill my brethren,” Lexa almost agreed. “As soon as one of mine dies without just cause, the treaty is done.”

That certainly put a time limit on the treaty - Abby Griffin was not going to mourn in the shadows for much longer. But maybe they could solve it before then. It was a long shot, but she was definitely going to try.

“I accept your conditions,” Clarke held out a hand for Lexa to shake.

“We make a blood pact,” Lexa decided as she pulled out a knife.

Okay that did not sound like a very good idea. If any of Lexa’s blood came in contact with any open wounds on her skin, she would turn into a werewolf. That was not an acceptable plan, so she was relieved when Lexa pulled out a piece of smooth wood and handed it to her along with the knife.

“You will carve the hunter insignia into this and smear it with your blood,” Lexa spoke. “I will do the same with the pack insignia. Then we will shake hands.”

Luckily Clarke was quite the artist, so she’d done some wood carving before. Also, it wasn’t much different from carving her own stakes. And she had gotten to the point where she could do that with both eyes closed.

The blood was the hardest part. No one liked to injure themselves on purpose, so Clarke hesitated ever so briefly before pricking her left index finger with the sharp knife, and letting a few drops of her blood fall onto the hunter insignia.

Lexa followed suit, not needing to carve the symbol onto her own piece of wood, just cutting her own finger and letting the blood drip onto the branch. They shook hands, and the treaty was valid. It was almost simple.

“We can treat,” Lexa affirmed it one final time.

Clarke still did not completely trust Lexa, but at least she had gotten the woman to make a promise. And she had arranged the help she needed to get rid of a bigger problem - she did not want to deal with another Dalila Jaha situation. She could not bear to have another friend die on her watch.

No - no thinking about death right now. She had lost enough sleep and done enough crying lately. No more.

When she looked up at the mountain, she saw the trees, and the ice at the top. But she also saw someone standing on the side of the mountain, in the full light, standing comfortably in a spot where no human dared stand. And he was looking right at her.

She blinked, and he was gone. Was he even there in the first place, or was she just losing it from exhaustion or grief? Another glance, and still no one there.

Maybe she’d just imagined him after all.

 

 


	3. Consequences

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which shit gets real, and people die.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it's been ages, but I'm back with almost 20K worth of fic.

PART THREE - college

This was not the first time he’d visited the Walden bar.

Lincoln actually had to take him there the first time he went - for some reason it could only be found by those who already knew where it was. Octavia and Clarke had found that trip particularly hilarious, and they’d teased both him and Lincoln about their “man date” for weeks on end. Miller, the ass, had made a joke about Bellamy cheating on him with another man.

Why were all his friends so fond of making fun of him?

Oh, right, because he did the same to them.

Sometimes it was nice to get out of the mess that was being part of the Slayerettes - seriously, maybe he’d better use this time to think of a better name. That way, he didn’t have to worry about O, or wonder how to classify the relationship between him and Clarke. She was more than just his sister’s friend - but calling her his friend did not quite cover the way she continued to watch over him during every night of every full moon.

Clarke confused him, left him off balance. It was easier to be in the bar, leaning over his drink as he listened to the conversations going on around him.

So far he had yet to hear anything concerning the so-called Mountain Men. It bugged him - it had been months since Clarke had treated with pack leader Lexa. They should have staked them by now - and yet, their enemies still roamed free, kidnapping people at will. Many had already disappeared.

“Well, this certainly explains a lot,” the woman sitting next to him sounded so familiar.

Bellamy turned to face her and got the surprise of a lifetime. His ex-girlfriend, or, his ex something, was sitting next to him, batting her eyelashes and grinning happily. That smirk revealed a set of fangs that she certainly had not possessed when they were... hanging out. He would have noticed that.

“Roma?” he was floored.

“Hiya, Bell,” her smile was still exactly the same. “Guess we’re both monsters now.”

If he didn’t look too closely at her fangs, he could almost imagine that things were the same as they’d always been between the two of them. She was flirtatious and charming and that spark of life she had about her had always drawn him in. Funny enough, that spark had not disappeared now that she was, technically at least, dead.

It was surprising how little she’d changed.

“Wondering why I haven’t ripped your throat out yet?” Roma teased, fangs on full display now.

“The magic on this place, perhaps?” he had always been too much of a smartass for his own good.

There were rules at this bar, and there was some serious magic that enforced those rules. There was no violence here - it was a safe haven for the monsters under your bed, a place where vampires and werewolves could share a quiet drink. No blood spilled here, unless it was on tap.

“Oh, Bell,” Roma still rolled her eyes in the same way. “You know that the stories aren’t true, right? We don’t all turn evil the second the blood drains. That’s a personal choice. You have the call of the wolf in you - it’s your choice to listen to it.”

She sipped her blood carefully, trying not freak him out with it. Or she just really didn’t look good with a blood mustache. Either way, she sipped her drink as if it were red wine rather than life-giving fluid stolen from someone else. Roma would not have been out of place at a Parisian salon. But life, or unlife, appeared to have different plans for her.

“Clearly you’ve never heard the full moon calling,” Bellamy shot right back. “She’s kind of insistent about making me listen.”

The life of a werewolf required him to have a tight grip on his often volatile temper for 27 days a month, to make up for the loss of control he felt on the other nights. There was no way to change that, no way to keep that sense of control on the nights his wolf took over. He had no choice but to obey the feral side of him.

“It’s all about control,” Roma had always enjoyed knowing something that he didn’t. “You can learn to control your transformation. It can be a weapon, a strength instead of a weakness.”

Was Roma part of the vampires who’d preached for peace, or was she with the vampires hiding in the mountains? Where had she even picked up this ridiculous rumor? Had she researched werewolves for her mountain buddies? He didn’t know where he stood with her - he never really had, so it was fitting that this too had not changed.

“What happened to you?” he finally asked.

“Since I broke up with you, you mean?” Roma never failed to rub that in.

“Were we even together in the first place?” Bellamy just couldn’t resist.

That particular discussion had been had dozens of times, and it had gotten heated every damn time. Funny, because they were both not the kind of people to commit. Not at that time - and now that he was the monster people told their children about, he knew it was never going to happen for him. Monsters did not get their happy ending.

“I see you haven’t changed either,” Roma laughed, the same laugh he used to hear from the pillow next to his. “Look, Bell, your kid sister is the Slayer now. If you’re just going to pump me for information so she can wave her stake around, you can at least buy me another drink.”

Sure, it would have been easy to count that as a mark in the evil vampire column, but the old Roma hadn’t given away anything for free either.

“One more for the lady,” he rolled his eyes as he motioned to the bartender.

“Such a gentleman,” Roma laid a cold hand on his thigh.

A shiver went through his entire body. God, she’d been so very warm back in the day. She always ran hot, taking to wearing his shirts and nothing else even when he wanted nothing more than to pull on a bulky sweater and hide under a pile of blankets. So something had changed after all - he used to pull her close, his personal heater, and now he couldn’t stand her touch.

“You’re hotter than you used to be,” she pulled her hand away as if burned. “In every way possible, by the way. Must be a wolf thing.”

Of course she was hitting on him. With her dark hair down, and a black dress displaying her suddenly pale skin, she made all the males in the bar salivate. But she was Roma, so she never cared about the ones that came easy.

“You still don’t know how to get to the point,” he raised a single eyebrow.

“And you still don’t know how to properly flatter a girl,” she copied the gesture mockingly. “But fine, because we’re such old friends. What do you want to know?”

Funny, everything he used to like about her was still there. It went against everything he’d been told by Indra, by the books he’d devoured when he found out about this underworld. Vampires changed the second they were turned - they became monsters who only used the memories of their old life to figure out which humans to kill first. No one was spared, because vampires did not feel or love or care. They only cared about their next meal.

“Who turned you?” he asked the dreaded question.

“Your regular mountain vamps,” Roma shrugged. “They were building a bigger army, because some girl was uniting all the wolf packs and they got scared. They wanted me to join them. I politely refused. Like hell I was going to waste away on that mountain. I’d miss town too much, all the shops and the cute guys...”

She spoke of her death so casually. Did she have no regrets? Was there nothing she missed about her human life? Or was she too lured by the increased strength? Was the reality of never aging so wonderful to her?

“Excellent priorities, as usual,” he continued to fall back into their old patterns.

“Bite me,” Roma followed right along. “Oh, no, wait, that’s my thing now.”

Bellamy laughed. How could he not?

“Look, Bell,” her tone abruptly turned serious. “Stay away from that damn mountain. I’ve seen too many of our friends end up in cages, used as chew toys until they wasted away.”

The image painted with those words made him sick to his stomach. This was so much more than just vampires kidnapping people for a feed and kill. People were being kept in cages. Cages! They were imprisoned and used as food - and there were many of them. He wondered how many of his high school classmates were still around, and how many of them were still human. How many of them had ended up at the business end of Octavia’s stake?

“I can’t,” he sighed.

“I know,” Roma took another sip of her drink, watching the red taint her glass. “You have to help your sister and her hunter friend. So I’ll do you a favor. For old time’s sake. Come to my old place, same time next week. I’ll bring a friend. You can bring a friend too, as long as you promise there will be no staking. She’s a friendly.”

Clearly Octavia was out. Roma and Octavia never exactly got along, and with Roma being turned into a vampire, it would only make it worse. Yeah, he might have to suck it up and just ask Clarke.

Did it mean anything that Clarke was the first person to spring to mind?

“Now, if you’ll excuse me,” Roma licked her lips. “Something tasty is beckoning me.”

She was on the other side of the bar before he could blink - clearly Roma was using her speed for the important things in life…

“I’m sorry, Roma,” he let himself be a little nostalgic now she was out of range.

But even though she was all the way across the bar, she glanced back at him. Roma winked at him merrily, making him wonder if she heard him after all.

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Her Lab had never been this fun before. But then again, her lab partner had never been this cute before - sorry Octavia, sorry Monty. Finn was everything that she needed at this point: he was cute, smart, and blissfully unaware of the underworld in which she still spent most of her nights. He was the perfect distraction.

“Don’t you ever just let down your hair?” Finn was currently trying to get her to come out with him some time.

“I have a very demanding night job,” she grinned at him, playing with a loose strand of her long hair. “Sadly, I have no time to play Rapunzel for you.”

It was just so much fun to tease him, to give him hints about this other world, knowing that he didn’t have a clue about what her night job actually was. To Finn, she was just a college girl, just a normal girl who liked to flirt while carefully filling beakers.

He made her feel normal. He made her have fun. And unlike some other people - yes Bellamy, that meant you - Finn actually liked her and bothered to show it. He leaned in close when they were talking, and he came up with the stupidest excuses to reach out and touch her. Her heart pounded and she did the same.

One day their schedules would align and they would actually have the chance to go out on a date - not just to have coffee together in between classes.

But it was not this day.

“I have a meeting straight after class,” she told Finn with regret. “We have got to stop doing this.”

Damn Bellamy and his stupid request. Was it that impossible for him to hang out with his ex on his own? Or was there more to this meeting that he was not willing to reveal just yet? He’d told her that Roma was a vamp now, and that she might have some intel on the Mountain Men. But he hadn’t told her why he needed her to be there for this.

Couldn’t she skip out and finally go on that date with Finn instead?

“Can’t you take one night off?” Finn was using his puppy dog eyes, which was just unfair.

“Not tonight,” she sighed. “But I’ll keep trying.”

If only her weakness for Bellamy would just wither away and die already. She had Finn now, so what use did she have for a stupid schoolgirl crush on her best friend’s brother? Would she always have the lingering sense that their story wasn’t over yet?

“I do appreciate the effort,” Finn winked, and she giggled.

“Good,” she had to get in a parting word before walking away.

She couldn’t have Finn see her with Bellamy, because that would start a line of questioning that she was not ready for. Normal people would not understand why she was this close with her best friend’s older brother. Also, Finn would surely be able to tell that there was something going on there - or that she wanted there to be something going on between her and Bellamy. Either way, it could only lead to awkward comments and questions.

God, she just wanted to be normal for a little while. This double life thing was total shit.

“Clarke,” Bellamy had already found her. “Thanks for doing this.”

And she melted, of course she did. He was just so appreciative, standing in the sunlight while it hit his damn freckles just perfectly. Bellamy Blake was just too gorgeous for his own good, and now that he was kind to her, it just made everything worse.

“Sure,” she replied noncommittally. “Can we go?”

His face fell ever so briefly, and she pretended not to notice. Shit, she had to get over him at some point, and better sooner than later. She was not going to care about being a little dismissive, because this thing… It was never going to happen, and she just had to get that through her thick skull.

And it was just rude of him to keep changing his mind about what he wanted her to be. He went from treating her like a child to treating her like a sister to treating her like a friend, and on a bad day he just kept going back and forth until she had no idea what the hell he wanted from her.

“Was class that bad?” Bellamy joked.

“I’m just cranky,” she shrugged, trying not to be too harsh.

That he was a big part of why she was in such a bad mood was going to remain a secret for now. She didn’t want to hurt his stupid feelings too much.

“And hanging out with me and Roma won’t help,” Bellamy somehow just understood. “Look, I’m really sorry I dragged you out with me. I just need someone to have my back. Roma says she’s bringing a friend who can help. But it’s Roma…”

“And she’s a vampire now,” she finished his sentence.

No offense, but the girl hadn’t been the most trustworthy person even before she was turned into one of the undead. She was a flake, bailing on dates with Bellamy at a moment’s notice just because something random came up or she totally forgot. She never seemed that interested, and Clarke was stupidly mad about that still. Ah yes, the green eyed monster was still making the occasional appearance.

“She doesn’t seem all that different,” Bellamy spoke before considering his words.

That was at least half of the problem in the first place. Bellamy still had a damn weakness for her, and it was going to get him killed. Sooner or later Roma was going to take advantage of the werewolf blood so close at hand - apparently, it was actually considered a delicacy among vampires. A rare delicacy, because werewolves were not as easy to defeat as humans. Sooner or later Roma would open a vein and bite down.

And Clarke could not just let that happen.

“But she is,” she had to make him understand. “You know that right?”

“I’m not stupid,” Bellamy was not amused at her patronizing words. “I know she’s evil now - but then again, so am I, according to your mother and her friends. We’re lucky Wells’ dad skipped town, or I would be long dead by now.”

Thelonius Jaha hadn’t been able to handle life in Arktown without his son. Only a few months after what would have been Wells’ graduation day, Jaha Senior left town on some sort of random vision quest. He had not been heard from since, and Clarke would have worried if Thelonius Jaha had not blamed her for his son’s death. Well, actually, he blamed her decision to involve herself with a werewolf for Wells’ death. When really it was his ex-wife’s fault - but God forbid Jaha actually face that particular problem.

“I know,” she sighed, not wanting to face that possibility.

“It wasn’t your fault,” Bellamy spoke firmly and surely. “You did nothing wrong.”

Oh, she’d done plenty of wrong things, and she’d made plenty of mistakes. Bellamy was somewhere on that list, even though he probably didn’t know that. But Wells, he was at the top. She should never have allowed him to go with them - he should never have gotten that close to his mother again.

“Clarke,” he knew she didn’t agree.

“Not now, Bellamy,” she was too tired for this shit. “Let’s just do this meeting first.”

He was going to bring it up again later, but if she kept him busy enough he might forget about it for a day or two. Or he’d find something else to worry about, like the big doggy mother hen he was.

“As you wish,” he spoke, and she froze for a second.

For a moment she was a child again, spending all her time at the Blake house, wrapped in blankets on their ancient yet comfy couch, watching The Princess Bride over and over again until she knew the whole movie by heart. It was a simpler time, a time when she hadn’t started training yet and she didn’t have to carry the world on her shoulders.

Back then, all she was worried about was finding a love as profound as Wesley’s and Buttercup’s. Even then, she’d hoped to find it in Bellamy, wanting him to be the farmboy pirate to her princess. Of course, that never happened.

“Did Roma tell you anything else about her friend?” she made sure to change the subject.

“Only that she could help,” Bellamy shrugged. “Roma’s not into trusting people. She never was.”

And Bellamy wasn’t into staying with one girl for very long. Yes, she knew the story; had heard more details than she ever wanted to know from Octavia’s complaints about whatever she’d overheard. Sure, she knew some private things about Bellamy that were very, very interesting, but some of the other details… Yeah, she didn’t need to know.

“Great,” Clarke made a mental inventory of her weapons. “It’s gonna be a trap.”

Of course this would happen when she didn’t have her bow with her. Damn it, she was going to have to whittle a couple extra stakes just in case. Damn Bellamy for not thinking with the head on his shoulders.

“It won’t be a trap,” Bellamy was such an idiot sometimes. “She could have just followed me home from the bar if she really wanted me dead.”

Not helping, Bellamy, not helping. She did not want to think of the million ways in which one or all of them could be killed. She did not want to lose anyone else.

“So uplifting,” she rolled her eyes.

“That’s not what I meant, Clarke,” Bellamy was getting more than a little snippy too.

This was not boding well for the rest of the meeting. She still had to deal with Roma and the mystery vampire - and with Bellamy and those stupid, confusing feelings that she didn’t want to have.

“We’re here,” she said as they pulled up in front of Roma’s old house.

Roma had lived alone when she was turned, and so it was that she could still enter the place - nobody had sold it. Yes, it did reassure Clarke that no vampire had a standing invite to her dorm. She slept a lot more soundly that way.

“No antagonizing her, Clarke,” Bellamy warned.

“Same goes for you,” she replied quickly. “You’re the one who always pissed her off.”

The fights were legendary - and according to Octavia, so was the makeup sex. While Clarke did appreciate learning that Bellamy was apparently good in bed, this was not the context in which she most wanted to find that out.

“Roma?” Bellamy opened the door and stepped inside. “I brought a friend, just like I promised. Did you bring yours?”

Yeah, spooking the big bad vamp wasn’t a great idea, so Bellamy was clearly taking the gentle approach as they stepped inside the dilapidated building. Obviously, no one had been doing the upkeep while the main resident was… elsewhere. And now that Roma could no longer spend time in the sun, the neglect had become particularly obvious.

“I did,” Roma appeared, fangs glinting in the artificial light. “Meet Maya.”

The other girl in the room did not look like your typical vamp. Sure, she was pale as hell, but she did not show her fangs off when she smiled. She acted calm and subdued, and she hesitantly smiled in Clarke’s general direction. Yes, this one was nervous - Clarke could definitely work with that.

“Hi,” Maya waved awkwardly.

“Roma said you could help us with a problem we’re having,” Clarke got straight to the point, preferring not to chitchat with random vamps.

Bellamy gave her a warning look, one she pointedly ignored. What else was she supposed to do here? She was not going to ask Roma about her day - that would just lead to a staking that would seriously upset Bellamy.

“Your problem is with my people,” Maya seemed to fold in on herself even more.

Clarke put her hand on her stake, not liking where this was going. This Maya was one of the Mountain Men? Was she just playing innocent and demure until her entire family jumped out to suck them dry? Well, if that was the case, she was going to take some of them with her.

“Your people?” even Bellamy was now on edge.

“The people who turned me and my father over 50 years ago,” Maya admitted. “Cage Wallace, the leader, killed his father to gain leadership over the clan last year. Ever since then… They’ve been keeping humans in cages, like disobedient pets.”

Was Clarke wrong, or did Maya actually sound concerned at that point? Why would she care about these humans? Vampires just didn’t give a shit about anyone but themselves.

“Why do you care?” Bellamy had the same idea.

“Because it’s wrong,” Maya’s voice became stronger. “I was human once. Every vampire was human once. We can’t think humans are worthless when we come from them.”

Yes, that speech was nice and all, but no vampire was that altruistic - no human was that selfless. Yes, of course there was the ‘it’s the right thing to do’ defense, but that was never the only reason a person did something good. They were in danger themselves, or the evil person had done something to them, or… someone they cared about was in danger.

“What else?” Clarke just knew this wasn’t all of it.

“They took my boyfriend,” Maya’s fangs came out, and Clarke finally felt she was dealing with a proper vampire. “They took him and put him in a cage. Nothing I say will make them set him free. He is worth more to Cage Wallace in a cage.”

Her boyfriend? This vampire had a human boyfriend? How did she even meet a human and how was this human clueless enough to start dating a vampire? How could someone not notice the fangs, or the sunlight allergy? Or was that a kink now? Were people actually into being sucked dry by their very own leech?

Yeah, she totally got the biting thing being hot - let’s face it, that one was all Bellamy’s fault - but being drained did not sound like a very sexy thing. Whenever she got close enough to see a vamp nibbling on someone, it looked like a painful thing rather than a sexy one.

“Your _boyfriend_?” Bellamy looked at Clarke, equally worried.

“Jasper,” Maya sighed, almost smiling at the mention of his name - gross.

Wait, what? Was this a coincidence or was Jasper fucking Jordan actually stupid enough to fall for a vampire? She was going to need to have a serious talk with him about using his brain. How was that boy even a part of Raven’s coven? How?

“Jordan?” Bellamy was once again following her line of thought.

“You know him?” Maya seemed delighted.

Oh hell no, those Mountain assholes did not take her friend! Sure, sometimes she thought that Jasper was kind of an idiot who was way too interested in having any kind of girl - anyone who’d have him, at least - but he was still a friend. He was part of their pack, and nobody messed with the Slayer Pack.

“When did they take him?” Clarke was back to being all business.

“Two nights ago,” Maya revealed. “I tried to persuade them to let him go, but Cage disagreed. And now he has power over me. You have to help Jasper.”

So that was the true reason. But it was one she could work with - Maya was firmly on their side as long as Jasper was alive, and knowing villain psychology like she did, Clarke expected that Cage Wallace would keep Jasper alive for a good long while. What else would he use as leverage against Maya to keep her complacent?

“And we will,” Bellamy had reached the same conclusion. “But we need your intel. We need ways in and out of that mountain. We need a layout of the place where Jasper is being held prisoner. We need to know everything if this mission is going to be a success.”

Bellamy had stepped up to lead the charge, and while she usually wasn’t inclined to let him, this time she was going to see where it took them. Besides, he deserved to look awesome and powerful in front of his ex.

Speaking of said ex, Roma had been suspiciously quiet for the last few minutes. Something had to be up with that, Clarke just knew it. So she turned to the side, and sure enough, Roma had completely disappeared from view. Clarke was immediately on edge, not knowing where to expect the attack from. She told Bellamy this was going to be a trap!

“Damn it, Bellamy,” Clarke tried to find Roma. “I told you this was hinky.”

“You’ve never used that word with me,” Bellamy was still focused on Maya. “Not ever.”

But he had noticed that Roma was no longer in their line of sight, which was more than a little suspicious, even to him. She had to be up to no good.

“She’s just in the kitchen,” Maya had sharper senses than Clarke. “Talking to her friend.”

So there was a third vampire in the house. Clarke assumed that Roma didn’t exactly have any human friends left. Whether that meant her human friends were dead or just unaware of Roma’s resurrection, that was not clear as of yet. So who was this third vamp?

“Which friend?” Bellamy certainly saw cause for alarm now.

“John, she calls him,” Maya seemed hesitant to betray Roma’s trust in this way.

Clarke reached for the stake on her belt, ready to take care of whoever Roma was sending in to kill them both. Her fingers flexed on the weapon as she took a deep breath. Bellamy was right at her side, brandishing his own stake.

“On three,” Clarke called the shots.

“One,” Bellamy moved towards the door. “Two,” he reached for the doorknob. “Three!”

As he opened the door to the kitchen, Clarke had her stake at the ready. She was ready to thrust it straight into the vampire’s heart, only to recognize… Murphy?

“Hey there, Griffin,” the familiar sardonic grin looked a little more creepy with added fangs. “I see you’ve been holding out on us. That is a good grip you’ve got there. O’s brother is a very lucky fellow. Nice to see you again, by the way.”

Wow, he clearly had not changed that much. Sure, she’d thought it odd that Murphy hadn’t shown up for sophomore year, but she hadn’t considered it that much. After all, people dropped out all the time, and Murphy did not look like the kind of guy who particularly wanted to be there in the first place. It made sense.

But apparently that was not what happened.

“Nice fangs, jerk,” she rolled her eyes at Murphy while Bellamy kept his stake trained on Roma, who didn’t look too happy to be caught out by them.

“All the better to bite people with,” Murphy still thought he was hilarious - he wasn’t.

“You do know why we have the stakes, right?” she slowly moved closer to him.

“To kill the evil dudes in the mountain,” Murphy was grinning sloppily. “I figured you needed another inside man. I promise not to drain any of your friends.”

Ah yes, that was a meaningful promise. She didn’t trust him one bit without the fangs, let alone with them. He was an asshole with dozens of stories about the shitty stuff he’d done - and that was just as a human. Clarke doubted he’d improved since Turning.

“Like we’d trust you,” Bellamy entered into the conversation.

“Yeah, I wouldn’t trust me either,” Murphy shrugged. “But you can always pay me. I’d love to have some extra money. I wanna buy some wheels.”

Could they trust him even when giving him a decent incentive? Raven could probably help him get a car or an old bike - she was a whiz with technology of any kind, but especially with stuff that involved engines and engineering. So the incentive seemed doable - it was the trusting Murphy that they had a real problem with.

“How do we know you aren’t going out and killing people?” Clarke tried to put it simply, trying to make Murphy understand it wasn’t as easy as he tried to make it sound.

“You don’t,” Murphy replied. “I know you don’t trust me. But I’d rather these mountain idiots be out of the way. I work better without an evil overlord trying to look over my shoulder.”

When even other vamps wanted the Mountain Men out of the way, it was obvious that something they were doing was really fucked up. Or they were just encroaching on Murphy’s territory. It would be just like John Murphy to use them to get rid of his enemies, so he’d be ready to take over power when the Mountain Men were gone. So yeah, they were going to have to keep an eye on him after, but maybe he was useful for now.

Clarke shared a look with Bellamy. With a reluctant nod, they struck their deal.

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“Finally a night off!” Octavia raised her hands over her head as she danced.

The music was pounding in the only club in town that allowed underage students. God, she couldn’t wait until she was twenty-one already - right now she was old enough to vote and stake vampires, but apparently she wasn’t old enough to go to a bar and do karaoke with her friends. O sucked at karaoke, and it was hilarious to witness.

But she was not going to focus on all the stupid things she couldn’t do tonight. Tonight was all about fun, about not freezing her ass off in the middle of the night because she had to wait until a damn vamp rose. For once she didn’t have to worry about what could jump out at her from the bushes.

For once she could just be normal.

“And no boys!” Octavia continued, trying not to sound unhappy about that.

Clarke knew what that was all about. Octavia was on the brink of something real and serious with Lincoln, but she was terrified of giving in to it. It was the first time she had actually given a damn about one of the guys she was hanging out with, and she was so very deeply in denial about her feelings. After all, she was the Slayer and she had more important things to do than to fall in love with the Seer. To which Clarke just wanted to say: too late!

Seriously, even though the guy insisted on being all mysterious and just showing up with cryptic hints about the battles ahead, it was totally obvious that what Octavia and Lincoln really wanted was to make out a ton and then fight the baddies together. Though Lincoln was rarely seen in action, Clarke had the feeling he’d be a total badass.

“No boys,” Clarke cheered her friend on, trying to forget her own worries.

Bellamy was still in her thoughts, and despite all the weirdness, so was Lexa. She couldn’t get the other girl’s eyes out of her head, or the way it had felt when they’d gotten up close. But sometimes in her dreams, Lexa’s pale eyes turned to dark brown pools of warmth that looked at her like she was the most interesting creature on the planet. How was she still so indecisive? And she hadn’t even mentioned Finn.

Hell, they still hadn’t gone on a real date, and she was getting a little worried that he might just move on to an easier target. Finn hadn’t done or said anything that made her think so - she was just insecure enough on the relationship front to know she wasn’t that much of a catch. She barely had time to hang out with her best friend when it wasn’t about slaying, let alone to date anyone who didn’t know about her world.

“Damn it,’ Octavia’s radar had picked something up, as she’d tensed, her back rigid. “We’ve got company.”

Clarke froze in the middle of a dance move, trying to figure out where Octavia had found the vamp intruding on their girl time, only to have her eyes stop on none other than Lincoln. Clearly someone hadn’t gotten the memo that he wasn’t invited.

Ah yes, there went girls night.

“I just have to…” Octavia was stammering an excuse right before heading in Lincoln’s direction.

Dancing on her own was not nearly as fun, but Clarke was totally up for it as long as the pounding bass helped her forget about monsters and men. She ran her hands through her hair, trying to pull it away from her heated face. The weather was shit, but the heat was on here on the dance floor.

“Hello, Clarke,” a guy was dancing right behind her.

She was ready to give him a piece of her mind, and she turned around, hair whirling around her, almost hitting Finn - because it was he - in the face. He was grinning charmingly as he awkwardly tried to dance along with her. So he wasn’t that great of a dancer - she didn’t care. She didn’t want him for his dancing skills, after all.

“Finn,” she smiled happily.

“And here I thought you’d never have a night off,” Finn leaned in closer.

“Technically you’re crashing our girls night,” Clarke motioned in Octavia’s general direction.

Seeing as Octavia was now covered by Lincoln’s worn leather jacket, clearly she did not mind the interruption all that much. They were standing closer than they were before, and if she leaned in even a few more inches they would actually be making out at the edge of the dance floor. Sure, Clarke was cheering for it on the inside, but that did not mean that she was not more than a little jealous.

“Wow, your friend’s boyfriend looks seriously intimidating,” Finn was staring worriedly at Lincoln.

“He’s a softie at heart,” Clarke grinned. “Now, how about we take advantage of Octavia’s lapse in attention to finally get that date going?”

She was not usually that forward, but something about tonight made it easier to seize the damn day. Who knew when she’d have a chance like this again? Tonight she was a normal girl, having a little fling with her very normal labpartner. It was all so deliciously ordinary.

“I like the way you think,” Finn was smiling now, and leaning in.

Before Finn’s lips finally met hers, she saw Octavia yanking Lincoln close to do the very same thing. Yes, excellent - they could both get their groove on tonight.

Finn’s lips were chapped, but warm, and he really did know how to kiss. She sighed happily when they broke apart to get some air. Yes, this was exactly what she’d been looking for; a night of teenage normalcy among all the supernatural crazy.

“You have such a nice smile,” Finn traced her lower lip with a single finger.

What was she supposed to say to that? She had no idea, and so she just leaned in for another kiss, figuring that they could forego the talking for the night. They did not need to talk to have a good time after all… And she was desperate for a good time.

“So you do know how to have fun,” Finn obviously needed a second to get his breathing back to normal.

“You have no idea,” she teased as she bridged the gap yet again.

Yeah, she liked being normal Clarke.

“How about you show me where you live?” she asked Finn, having already made her decision. “I’m sure O has dibs on our place.”

Finn just laughed as he lead the way.

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The world started making sense so very slowly that morning. She woke up in a strange bed, with a warm hand pulling her closer to a warm torso. It had been so long since she’d shared a bed with anyone. Had it ever happened like this?

Everything was slightly fuzzy, because Finn had a bottle of tequila at his place and Clarke and tequila had always had a love-hate relationship. She’d very much enjoyed the body shots and the warm feeling alcohol always gave her, but she so wanted to brush her teeth before Finn got the idea of morning sex into his head - not with her current dragon breath. He’d just have to wait until she was relatively minty fresh.

Nothing quite got rid of the entire tequila aftertaste. Yuck.

She climbed out of bed slowly, gently pulling Finn’s arm away from her body so she could find the nearest toothpaste.

As she walked on her tippy toes to the nearby bathroom, the floor creaked under her foot and she stilled immediately. God, this was much more awkward than the movies made it look, even though she was still planning to climb back into that bed later - fingers crossed for round two. But Finn didn’t even make a move, so she was free to continue on to the bathroom for that much needed toothpaste.

Seriously, some decent sex and a night of fun really did help with her recent shitty mood - and it kept her mind of Lexa and stupid Bellamy, at least for the night. And she needed that, so very much.

Faced with her hungover reflection in the bathroom mirror, she saw every imperfection that she normally would have been worried about. She saw the bloodshot eyes and the messy hair and some of the tiny scars she’d gained over the years of fighting the good fight. But she looked happy, and that was all that mattered.

So she rinsed her mouth a couple of times, smeared some toothpaste on her finger and tried to fix the worst of the damage. She could do this. She could totally just climb back into bed without considering how she looked to Finn.

She had just slid back into the bed when the phone rang, showing Raven’s face on screen. Why was Raven calling at this hour? Was there an emergency?

“Hello?” Clarke picked up, still so very sleepy.

“Who the fuck is this?” Raven sounded confused.

Wait, Raven had called her. Why would she be confused about who was on the other end?

“It’s Clarke,” she yawned. “You called me, remember? This is you, right, Raven? Is everything okay?”

There was a long silence. Clarke worried if maybe it hadn’t been Raven after all, or if Raven had dropped her phone for some weird reason. Did something attack her while they were having their conversation?

“Clarke?” Raven sounded weirdly calm, but there was an edge of barely contained rage audible in her voice. “Why are you answering Finn’s phone?”

Finn’s phone? She had Finn’s phone? She sat up in bed, now completely alert, and stared at the strange phone in her hand. It was his. But why would Raven be calling?

_Oh no._

No. This was bad. This was terrible. This was the end of the alliance between the Slayer pack and the coven bad.

Clarke looked down at Finn as he woke up, wearing this blissfully delirious, goofy, half-asleep grin. It was then she properly realized what had happened.

Seconds later she was back in the bathroom, throwing up the tequila.

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Octavia had clearly been waiting for her, because the second Clarke got back to the dorm, feeling gross and disgusting and still so very sick, her friend had basically jumped on her. Octavia had a great time with Lincoln, and she would have been totally sorry for abandoning Clarke, if she hadn’t seen her making out with her lab partner.

When she told her “way to go”, Clarke had once again found herself leaning over the porcelain throne, throwing up what was left in her stomach. Octavia had blamed that on the alcohol and she’d rushed Clarke into the shower before they had to leave for the meeting with the coven - the one thing Clarke was dreading above all else.

Even after her shower, she still felt gross and disgusting, but Octavia proclaimed it to be time to leave, and so she followed, trying to find a way to explain everything to her best friend without her being disgusted by Clarke’s behavior.

“You don’t look happy,” Octavia noticed almost immediately. “I mean, you’re obviously still hungover, but you don’t look like someone who got laid last night. Was he bad in bed?”

The time had come to fill her in on what happened, but Clarke didn’t know how to tell her. Would Octavia understand that she hadn’t known? How could she have known? Raven didn’t mention a name, and Finn had surely never mentioned a girlfriend.

“So, I went home with Finn last night,” she started, figuring that she’d best just get it over with as soon as possible. “I woke up when the phone rang. It was Raven. Only, it wasn’t my phone I was answering.”

Clarke could actually see Octavia trying to process that information. First she furrowed her brow, trying to make sense of the Raven-Finn connection. The two had never come up in connection to each other - Raven was a part of their supernatural life, while Finn was only tangentially involved in their normal school life. Those lives never should have mixed - but they did, and Octavia had just reached that same conclusion.

“Raven and Finn?” she was as stunned as Clarke was when she found out.

“I knew Raven had a boyfriend,” Clarke shrugged, trying to seem casual. “But she never told me his name. It probably should have clicked when I saw her name on the phone - but I was still half asleep. I thought it was _my_ phone. So I picked up. I figured there might be some kind of witchy emergency. God, this is awful.”

She was never going to be able to look Raven in the eye again after this. How could she not have known? How could she not have seen the signs? Had there been signs? Sure, he was texting a lot, but everyone texted a lot these days. And yeah, he was really flirty, but she never suspected - and now she was made a fool of.

“Shit, this is gonna be awkward,” Octavia summed the situation up nicely.

“This feels terrible,” Clarke opened her mouth and just unloaded on her friend. “He made me into the other woman and it sucks. It’s awful. Do you think I should try to tell her that I didn’t know?”

That was the only thing that she could think of that could help. She was going to find the right words that would help Raven understand that she didn’t know Finn was taken. She was going to explain that Finn never mentioned being with anyone else. She was going to tell Raven that she never would have made a single move if she’d known.

“Honestly, I wouldn’t,” Octavia sighed heavily, linking her arm with Clarke’s. “I think if you try to talk to her now she will totally curse you. Just leave it at business for tonight and wait for her to come to you when she’s ready to talk about it. I’d like my bestie to remain human, thanks.”

Octavia bumped shoulders with her at that last bit, trying to make her smile. Normally, that might have worked, but this time she was too caught up in her own misery to let herself feel better about any of this. She fucked up everything by being so damn careless - why did she ever think being a normal girl was good or easy?

“I’m really sorry, Clarke,” at least Octavia still had her back.

“Thanks,” she took a deep breath and faced her doom.

When they arrived at the clearing, Bellamy was already there. She hadn’t even considered how seeing him might make her feel. She couldn’t look at him, couldn’t see those dark eyes boring into hers.

There were too many people here to get a chance to explain anything. Other than Bellamy, she saw Raven and her second, a girl named Monroe. Lexa had brought her right hand man Gus, and Clarke knew some more members of Lexa’s guard were right at the edge of her vision, ready to assist their leader if need be. And then there was Lincoln, standing on his own, trying not to get all awkward when Octavia caught his eye.

It seemed that the temperature in the clearing was at least ten degrees lower than anywhere else in the woods. It was probably because of Raven, who was glaring daggers at her from the corner of her eye. She was so angry at Clarke, and of course she had every right to be. Clarke shivered violently as the temperature around her decreased even more.

“Hey, O,” Bellamy welcomed them. “Hey, Clarke. You okay? You don’t look so good.”

Great, when even the dork with the emotional range of a teaspoon noticed that she wasn’t feeling too well, she was being really obvious about her problems. And she had no right to be, when Raven was the one in pain because of this. She had no right to worry anyone - she just had to do her penance some other time.

Bellamy had just picked up on the hostile looks that Raven was sending her way, and he clearly did not understand what had happened there. He was looking back and forth, trying to figure everything out, until he decided that he would just ask them. He was about to say something when Octavia silenced him with a sharp elbow to the side.

“So,” Octavia opened the official part of the meeting, “we are gathered here today to discuss where we stand on the Mountain Men issue. Now, my brother has met with someone in their ranks who is willing to help us free the humans and innocents in the mountain. Care to elaborate, Bell?”

_2 new messages - Finn_

_Why did you leave so suddenly?_

_I had a great time last night_

She stared at her phone, willing the messages to go away. How could he think that everything was okay after she ran out of his place like something was on fire? Had Raven not confronted him about his heinous betrayal yet, or had she told him? Was Finn still pursuing her? How dare he make her partially responsible for ruining a steady relationship!

_1 new message - Finn_

_See you in class, princess_

There was no way that he was going to take that nickname from her too. She wouldn’t let him.

_Don’t call me that. And stop texting me._

How had he not gotten the message by now? If Raven had been half as cold to him as she was being to Clarke right now, he should have known to let it go. He should have known that he fucked up. Or was he just trying to keep Clarke around because he’d already lost Raven?

Was she a consolation prize?

Her phone made the howling sound again - she really had to get around to changing that some time soon - but this time she just ignored it, still trying to avoid Raven’s piercing gaze as the temperature around her reached freezing. She wrapped her arms around herself, trying not to succumb to the urge to shiver violently. Her teeth were already chattering, and she knew she looked like an idiot in front of the others - they did not appear to have the same problem with the local temperature.

When she suddenly felt warmer, she was drawn from her stupor only to witness Bellamy wrapping his stupid leather jacket around her shoulders. She almost wanted to cry, but instead settled for shooting him a grateful smile as she felt some warmth settle in her bones again. Sure, she knew she deserved the cold, but she was a coward at heart. The cold did bother her.

“Having people on the inside is valuable,” Lexa was present and speaking only in declarative statements as usual, “But we still need a bigger plan.”

Lexa had a point, though. Sure, they were stronger with someone inside the mountain reporting back to them, but they still needed a bigger plan that used this inside intel to break down the mountain and the vampires inside it for good. What Lexa was thinking about was a kind of genocide, and it terrified Clarke that the option was actually on the table.

Then Lexa brought out some ceremonial cups that her people used to seal an alliance, and some homemade alcohol that was totally not going to help her hangover. Clarke, Raven, Octavia and Lexa would drink from it, as leaders of their own groups. The others were to stand back and watch as the alliance was solidified. She wished Bellamy could participate in this, but she would settle for having Octavia at her side while Raven continued to attempt to glare her to death.

“We must toast to the alliance,” Lexa held up her own cup as she waited for Clarke and Raven to join her. “Raven of the Sorcerers, Clarke of the Hunters, Octavia of the Slayerkin. When we drink this, we will be family.”

Terrible timing, really. Raven appeared ready to commit murder, keeping it in the family, and Clarke was hesitant to drink anything with alcohol. Not after the mistakes she’d made under the influence last night. Though, she’d been sober when she made the first big mistake, so could she really blame the alcohol?

“Clarke,” Lexa swallowed a large gulp of the booze without even a twitch, and then motioned for her to follow.

She had the cup raised to her lips when Lexa began coughing harshly. The other girl was pounding her chest, trying to take in gulping breaths and failing. She was no longer breathing.

Clarke was still frozen to the spot when Bellamy forcefully pushed the full cup from her hand, standing in front of her like he was a knight of old. It was a noble gesture, but right now Clarke needed to use her field medicine experience to save Lexa’s life.

“Bellamy, move,” she ordered in her strictest voice. “I need to help Lexa.”

The leader of all twelve wolf packs was now convulsing on the forest floor, with Octavia trying to push her onto her side, trying to make sure she did not injure herself. How were they going to help her if they did not know what kind of poison was used?

Some poisons were best combated by vomiting, while others would only do more damage that way. How much time did Lexa have left while Clarke stood indecisive? She had to choose, and whatever she chose was either going to save Lexa’s life or end it.

“Raven,” Clarke shouted, completely uncaring of the fact that the witch now hated her. “Can you scan her for poisons? I need to know if it’s safe to make her vomit.”

Even though Raven would probably sooner use her magic on Clarke, she still listened and worked with Clarke to save Lexa. Only seconds later, Lexa’s nervous system lit up as Raven whispered words in that same bastardized version of Latin that Clarke had heard her use so many times before. Raven spoke fast, and Clarke could hardly keep up with the jets of light rapidly changing colors over Lexa’s shaking body.

“Aconite,” Raven spoke just a single word. “Someone gave her wolfsbane. It’s even more toxic to wolves.”

It was probably best to induce vomiting - if that stuff stayed in Lexa’s system for much longer, they would lose her. Even though she really hated doing this, she actually had to stick her fingers down Lexa’s throat and prepare for the vomit. Ugh, grossest part of the job - but at least her parents had prepared her for the occasion.

“Keep your distance everyone,” Clarke turned leader again. “Bellamy step back. I don’t want you near any of this.”

He might die even from touching it - she couldn’t risk losing him. She needed him now more than ever, now that Raven hated her and she felt so much like shit that not even Bellamy’s jacket could make her feel better. She let the jacket fall off her shoulders as she cared for Lexa - hoping the piece of clothing wouldn’t be ruined by vomit or poison. It was such a superficial thing to worry about, but damn it she liked that jacket on him.

“O, Raven, someone did this,” Clarke continued to shout orders. “Find them. Lexa will bring them to justice when she gets better.”

Once again, her orders were followed to the letter, as she heard more whispered spells and then the sound of someone trying to escape from O’s clutches. Oh, didn’t they know by now that the Slayer always won?

Lexa was puking now, and while Clarke was trying to support her as much as possible, she really needed to look at something other than the poison coming out of the wolf’s body. And so she somehow caught Bellamy’s gaze. He seemed almost in awe of her as she took charge of everything, and there was a warmth in his gaze that would have made her blush if this had been any other situation. Damn it, Bellamy, this was possibly the worst time to do this feelings thing with her, whatever feelings they might have been.

Friendship. She had to believe that it was friendship. She couldn’t do love anymore.

As Lexa started breathing again and Octavia dragged Lexa’s incapacitated right hand man, a fellow named Gus, back in their direction, Clarke knew.

There could be only friendship from now on.

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Lexa was still recuperating when Clarke got the news that more of her friends had been taken by the Mountain Men. It was bad enough that they’d taken Harper, and that Jasper was still somewhere in the mountain, but now they had taken Monty as well. Sweet Monty with his subtle magic and his clever jokes that made her feel better even though she’d been feeling like the world was shattering underneath her feet.

Gus had been killed by a still trembling Lexa, seconds after the other woman regained consciousness. His fight was over, she’d said, and she’d made an example of him. His former status did not matter, all that mattered was that he opposed the alliance.

Raven’s attitude towards Clarke hadn’t changed, and the fact that Finn still kept texting her did not help at all. For some reason the ass had not caught on to the fact that Clarke was always going to choose her friendship with Raven over some idiot, especially since said idiot had made her into the other woman, a position she never wanted to find herself in.

She was never going to choose Finn - and yet he wouldn’t get the message.

_1 new message - Stalker Finn_

_I’m worried about you_

What had she done in that one night, or in their meetings in the lab, to make him fall for her so completely? She’d just been herself, awkward and slightly distant, until she decided to just make out with him a little and see what happened. But it was just one night, just a fling. One ruinous mess of a night that destroyed a relationship.

Why was Finn latching on to it?

“Finn again?” Octavia sighed heavily.

“He needs to get a clue,” Bellamy was not amused either, sitting down next to her and pushing her phone aside. “And we need to talk about what’s next.”

Bellamy had been a rock. He was always there to step in for whatever ridiculous thing was needed - being a buffer between her and Raven, picking her up after class if she didn’t want to talk to Finn, helping her brainstorm ideas for how to get into the mountain… Anything she needed in these trying times.

“They keep taking more people,” Octavia had a list of missing persons a mile long. “They’re taking bigger groups faster - they’re escalating and we barely know the big nefarious plan. Sure, they may need these people for food, but there has to be another reason why they’d lock them in cages.”

It was infuriating not to have figured out why they needed so many. These people had to be used for more than just food - the Mountain Men needed them for something much bigger, something much more dangerous. But they hadn’t been able to figure out what.

“Monty was taken in broad daylight,” Bellamy added.

“But how?” Clarke mused. “Either they have help or they’ve figured out a way against their pesky sunlight allergy. And that’s a serious problem.”

Sure, in a bind, a vamp could use a blanket to get from place to place, but they kinda stood out with the smoking fabric held over their head. People would have noticed someone on fire, especially if they were kidnapping a capable wizard. Monty would have to have been overpowered by force, and there was no way a smoking vampire would have been able to do that. Neither would a mere human. So either they’d enlisted a pack of werewolves - Lexa would have noticed that - or they had figured out a way against the damn sunlight issues. The latter made them very, very dangerous.

“Maybe that’s why they’re using these people,” Bellamy suggested. “To make a cure.”

A cure? That was terrifying. If vampires were now able to walk the day as well as the night, it left them almost invincible, especially against the regular humans who did not have Octavia’s Slayer powers or Clarke’s skills with most weapons.

“They took my dad,” Miller burst in suddenly with unusual fanfare. “Let’s massacre them.”

Sure, the police chief and his son did not always get along, but there was never any doubt that those two did not love each other. Miller only had his dad and his friends, and he was fiercely protective of both.

“They’re planning some kind of attack,” Octavia was putting the pieces together. “Why else would they take our police chief? They want to disrupt our police force, so that we can’t get help when they decide to come for us. Fun times ahead.”

That was scary - and it was proving to be a serious problem. Sure, the police were worried about the missing people, and a large scale search had been launched. But it was nothing compared to the chaos that would ensue now that Chief Miller had been taken. People were going to start dying soon, criminals would come out of the woodwork, and evil creatures were going to come out and play.

“They took him right under my nose,” Nathan was angry. “But they didn’t bother with me for even a second. They were there for him, and him only.”

These targeted attacks spelled major trouble.

“But they were vampires?” Octavia had to ask.

“Fangs and everything,” Miller made the universal fang gesture. “And yet they were not burning to a convenient crisp. They’d been cured.”

So they were right. The vamps were looking for a way to live in the light - and everyone else was doomed because of it.

“We need to uncure them,” Clarke was already thinking biology, trying to remember which books in her mother’s library would be most helpful. “I’m sure there’s a way we can do that. We can ask Raven for a magical sunlight bomb or something when the time comes. For now, we need to hit the books.”

For some reason, she’d once again reverted to being the girl with the answers, the girl in charge. Why wasn’t Octavia calling the shots again?

_1 new message - Stalker Finn_

_I saw how beautiful it was outside and thought of you_

Bellamy had sat up straight at the sound of the howling wolf coming from Clarke’s phone, and he was now attacking his innocent water bottle by unconsciously forming claws with his large hands and squeezing. Clearly he was getting annoyed with the constant interruptions.

“Bell,” Octavia rolled her eyes at her brother. “Take a walk. Go grab some stuff from Indra’s library. We might be able to use your language skills, you nerd.”

While Clarke and Octavia were working hard just to pass their classes, Bellamy had taken on the challenge of learning some of the more ancient languages that came in handy when researching the supernatural. There were not nearly enough people who spoke Latin, Etruscan and Ancient Sumerian these days. His ancient Greek was not quite up to snuff, but he was a whiz at hieroglyphics.

So, basically, like Octavia said: nerd. And Clarke was left pretending that Bellamy speaking in a foreign language in that rumbling voice of his didn’t turn her on. She wasn’t that effective.

“Will do, sis,” Bellamy performed a mock salute, still grumpy for some reason.

What was up with that anyway?

Not the point, they had plans to make and people to save. Miller followed Bellamy to Indra’s library for an extra pair of strong arms - and some guy talk on the way there. Octavia went to the next room to call the cavalry (Lincoln, the coven, the pack, and did she mention Lincoln?), while Clarke grabbed pen and paper to make a list of the books that would be useful from her mother’s personal library.

She was halfway through the ninth title when something grabbed her, a needle was jammed into her neck and everything went black.

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After Clarke was taken, Octavia had returned first, finding an empty chair where Clarke had been, the seat still warm and a long stripe of ink straight through the first three books on her list. The last title had not been finished, and there was no sign of Clarke other than the phone that occasionally howled from its position on the side table.

Clarke was gone. They’d taken her, right from under their stupid noses.

Bellamy had been furious. How could they have let this happen? Octavia had been just one room away, and he and Miller hadn’t even made it to the car before they’d heard Octavia scream - a sound that had terrified him. He’d worried about his sister’s safety and rushed over to her without care for anything else. But it had not been his sister that had been taken. It was her best friend.  

It had happened so fast that even the Slayer and her werewolf brother hadn’t stood a chance. And now Clarke was probably chained up in some cage; a role reversal he never wanted to see. He was the monster that was supposed to be chained up, not Clarke.

He would have loved to say that he immediately thought of a great plan to save everyone, but he had been  numb for at least a few minutes while Octavia took charge. Miller had finally just elbowed him sharply to his side and he’d come to.

“We need to tell her mother,” Octavia had stared pointedly at him. “Now I know you don’t like her, and she would probably kill you if she ever found out about your full moon habits, so I’ll tell her. We need her help - there’s not enough of us to take on all of these vamps.”

Damn it, he’d wanted to put off asking the hunters for help for as long as possible. Yes, he was selfish that way. But with Clarke gone, he couldn’t be selfish any longer. She’d already been in that mountain too long. Seconds were too long.

“I’ll take asshole duty,” Miller had decided, rolling his eyes. “Bell, you can speak to your witchy friend. I don’t care how bitchy she’s been - she needs us just as much as we need her. My dad is in that mountain, damn it.”

Finn fucking Collins had been about the last thing that Bellamy had wanted to think about. He’d wanted the asshole out of her life - being a cheating dick didn’t grant someone an explanation. It had nothing to do with jealousy, no matter what stupid jokes Miller had been making about that very thing.

This was hardly the time, which was the same thing he’d told Raven when she didn’t respond too kindly to the news of Clarke’s abduction - at least, for the first few seconds before the guilt kicked in. This was not the time for petty feuds and arguments about idiot guys. This was the time to save their friends.

But even a few days later, they’d yet to find a damn clue about what had happened to Clarke and the others. He hadn’t been able to get a hold of Roma or Murphy. They were sitting on their asses while these vamps were doing God knows what to Clarke and Mr. Miller and Monty and all of these other innocents.

“We have to do something,” he stood up from the table, unable to sit still for a minute longer.

“We all know that, you drama queen,” his sister was just as frustrated, slamming her book closed before continuing her lecture. “We’re all upset and we’re all frustrated and we’re all tired. Now get your ass back in that seat and make yourself useful.”

Wow, he was weirdly proud of his sister for that. She was in charge, and keeping them all together even though he knew that she, too, was falling apart on the inside. But she just kept looking for new clues, and she would never give up on her friends.

“Finn has lost it,” Raven had come back from her sleeping break with some alarming news. “He has actually fucking lost it.”

Was this really the time to discuss whatever fuck up the guy had caused this time? There were more important things to worry about. Unless this had something to do with the people in the mountain, Bellamy couldn’t care less about it.

“What’s he done now?” Octavia spoke, sounding like she wasn’t all that interested.

“He showed up at Walden,” Raven’s voice was unsteady, something Bellamy had never heard from her before. “He wasn’t even supposed to know where it was, but he held a knife to some wolf’s neck and got the kid to take him. This was a child! A child!”

Wait, what? Bellamy just thought he’d hear more stories of drunken antics, or stories of text messages and more ‘mild’ cases of stalking. He never imagined that a cheating idiot could so easily escalate to assault and threatening a fucking kid!

“I have a feeling that’s not the whole story,” Miller sighed heavily.

“It’s not,” Raven’s confusion and fury radiated off her in waves. “He heard about Clarke and he just lost it. People aren’t supposed to have weapons at Walden. It’s some peaceful Thoreau type shit there and Finn tried to barge in with a knife on a kid’s neck.”

Raven was breathing heavy, seemingly unable to imagine the boy she loved doing something so awful. It seemed that Finn had even more of a monster inside than anyone thought.

“Sure, he eventually got rid of the knife before coming in,” Raven continued. “And mind you, I’m just hearing this from some of my…. sources. They told me that Finn started interrogating people, and trying to hurt them if they didn’t have the answers that he was looking for. He was asking them about Clarke. Just Clarke.”

Damn it, Raven did not deserve this shit. She deserved better than an ex-boyfriend who stirred up shit when she was still recovering from the blow of his cheating. And now with him coveting her friend, the girl he cheated with - going mad over Clarke… How was Raven supposed to deal?

She probably still loved the guy.

“He is going to get himself killed,” Raven was desperate now.

“He is going to get other people killed,” Octavia was always on the side of the innocent.

Of course Bellamy was on the side of the innocent too, on the side of that boy who would be permanently traumatized by the attack. But he was also on the side of the other innocents in this: he was on Clarke’s side, and he knew she would hate that her name was linked to the violence and madness. Right now, he was putting himself on Raven’s side: people were going to think that Finn had everything coming to him, and while they might have been right, Raven didn’t deserve to mourn him. Raven deserved to get over the bastard and live happily ever after.

“I’ll talk to Roma again,” Bellamy offered. “I don’t care what I have to offer her, but she’s going into that mountain and helping us get our friends back. Maybe that way Finn will settle down.”

Roma was going to be hesitant - he expected as much - but there was nothing else left to try here. Time was running out.

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She woke up alone, with a pounding headache and a mouth as dry as the damn Sahara. It took her a few seconds to filter out the background noise - so many voices - and open her bleary eyes to the halogen lights.

This was _not_ good.

The bars of the cage looked strong, and they were way too close to her already. There was not enough room for her to stand - heck, she could barely sit up straight. While she was not in any way claustrophobic, she was seriously panicked at the discovery that she couldn’t even stretch her legs. For a moment, she couldn’t breathe.

“Clarke!” a familiar voice called out, but her brain was too foggy to recognize it immediately. “I can’t believe they took you too.”

She dazedly looked around, trying to find something, anything that she could actually focus on rather than just seeing one big blur. Her eyes drifted closed again and it took ages for her to return to full consciousness again.

It felt like hours later when her eyes opened again, but it might have been days. God, what was in that damn syringe to knock her out so completely for so long?

Her surroundings were still mostly the same, only now she could properly focus on what she was seeing. There were cages everywhere in her line of sight, and most of the cages were filled with people. There was an entire village of people being kept like zoo animals - that was probably all they were to these vampires.

“She’s awake,” the voice from the cage next to hers called out. “Monty, your friend is awake.”

Her neighbor was a total stranger, some guy with dirty blonde hair and a mustache that somehow didn’t make him look like a total creep. He was a little older than Clarke, maybe Bellamy’s age. And for some reason he actually looked concerned for her wellbeing. So who the hell was this guy?

“Where’s Monty?” she tried to sit up straight on the first try.

“Clarke?” she heard his familiar voice, now filled with relief.

At least Monty was okay, or as okay as anyone could be when locked up in a cage by evil vampires bent on world domination. Precious, precious Monty. The sheer relief of hearing his voice was almost enough to bring her to tears - and she was not a weepy person at all.

“You okay, Monty?” she called, trying to locate her friend.

“The room service sucks,” he responded.

She stifled a laugh - same old Monty. And when she spotted him, sitting awkwardly in a cage across from her and one level down, she knew that he wasn’t exaggerating his mirth too much. He appeared relatively unharmed, with only a small scratch on his cheek that was in the final stages of healing.

And he was smiling.

“Who else is here?” she asked, getting right back down to business.

“You just met Wick,” Monty indicated her neighbor. “He was Raven’s TA a while back. They didn’t get along much. You already knew about Jasper. Harper is here.”

Monty stopped then, the grimace on his face telling Clarke everything that she needed to know - Harper was not doing too well. She was probably in the midst of the experiments.

“Monroe takes good care of her,” Monty tried to cheer everyone up. “You remember Monroe from the coven, right? There’s a lot of us here. They’ve tried to stay away from the wolves - it’s just us humans here.”

It was sad how her mind immediately went to Bellamy, and she breathed a big sigh of relief as she realized that he was probably safe for now. And if it was just humans, maybe they wouldn’t dare take Octavia either. Slayers were not quite human, and for once Clarke hoped Octavia was going to stick with her non-human side.

“It’s a regular clubhouse,” Wick had to be the sarcastic shit Raven described him as once.

“You go to some weird clubhouses,” Clarke deadpanned, trying to shut him up. “Now, if we’re going to help our people on the outside, we need to get organized. Next time Jasper’s girlfriend comes in, we’re going to get out of these cages.”

Wick scoffed at that, of course he did, but Monty seemed relieved to have her around to come up with all of the big plans. Someone had to take charge here, and it just wasn’t in Monty’s nature to do that for very long. She figured Jasper might have tried if he hadn’t been so busy making out with one of the vampires. Ugh. At least Maya was decent.

Wait, so how would that even work? The Jasper making out with Maya thing. Did they make out through the bars or did Maya just open up his cage for a few minutes? Because if it was the latter, Clarke was going to get that key, and use it to let everyone out of their cages. And then she was going to build an army.

An army that would not involve Wick - the asshole was humming some old Earth classic.

“I’m coming out of my cage and I’ve been doing just fine!” he even started singing.

“Quiet!” a panicked yell from the corner. “Someone’s coming.”

Clarke hoped that it was Maya - that would speed things up considerably. So it was a huge surprise when her cage door opened and she came face to face with none other than Roma.

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It all happened so fast that she only realized she was free again when she reached Octavia’s street. Or more accurately, Bellamy’s street, seeing as Octavia was supposed to live in their shared dorm.

So not the point, though.

Roma had been surprisingly helpful. Seriously, while Clarke wasn’t suddenly on the side of the undead, Roma actually hadn’t been too much of a bitch. She’d unlocked Clarke’s cage and allowed her three minutes in which she instructed Wick and Monty about proper fighting protocol and how to defeat a vampire. She had to make them understand how important it was for this army inside the mountain to be ready when the time came.

After those three minutes, the awkward goodbye came. She’d pleaded with Roma to free more people, but the other girl claimed that it was going to be too noticeable. They didn’t have the resources to free everyone. They had to choose, and they chose Clarke.

“They” turned out to be Roma, Maya, and Murphy. So he managed to stick to his word after all. He didn’t appreciate how shocked Clarke was to see him, but she didn’t give a shit. No one was expecting anything good from Murphy, and they were probably totally right about that - but he did help free her. He carried her down the damn mountain, mockingly commenting about the precious princess not wanting to hurt her feet all the way down. But he had been nice to her, in his own way.

Though that didn’t mean she had to like the guy.

Seriously, those were her pathetic thoughts as she finally made it to the house, hoping desperately that Octavia was there instead of at the dorms - really, she was totally not thinking of the possibility of being alone with Bellamy for a while. She was probably all kinds of gross, but she doubted anyone would give a damn.

She opened the door almost shyly, not knowing who or what she would find inside the Blake house. But before she got a decent look, she was swept up into a pair of strong arms, some random object clattering to the floor.

Bellamy pulled her close, and she sighed happily, breathing in that distinctly _Bellamy_ smell of gasoline, earth, and something she just called warmth. His strong arms were not going to let her fall, and his face was buried into her neck - and did he just sniff her? Oh, Wolfamy had a lot to learn still.

But still, if this were a movie this was the moment where the music swelled until it overwhelmed all outside noise. This was the moment where feelings were revealed and where the audience started swooning. Maybe Bellamy actually felt something for her after all - he must have been so very concerned about her.

“Clarke!” Octavia interrupted the private moment.

That certainly put a damper on Clarke’s happy, warm boy feelings. Bellamy let go of her as if he’d been burned, when just seconds ago he was totally fine with this ridiculously lingering hug. Was he that embarrassed of his feelings for her, whatever they may be? What was so bad about this hug? If it had been up to her, it would have lasted forever.

Was there a rewind button for her life?

“Hey, O!” of course she was still happy to see her best friend again.

Her friend pulled her into a hug, and Clarke really tried not to compare the hug to the one she’d received from Bellamy.

“It’s so good to see both my girls together again,” Clarke saw Bellamy smiling as he watched the girls hugging.

His girl? She was his girl? So maybe he really did -

“And by girls I mean sisters,” Bellamy awkwardly stammered. “Clarke’s like a sister to me.”

Like a sister to him? Was he fucking kidding? She didn’t see him trying to press against Octavia like this! He didn’t smell his sister’s hair! He didn’t look at Octavia the way he’d been looking at Clarke lately. What the fuck was he thinking?

Octavia released Clarke from their hug only to raise an eyebrow at Bellamy’s awkward rambling. Clarke was too pissed to even look at him at this point - shit, she had so much more important things to discuss, and now she was almost too confused and irritated to discuss them with Bellamy idiot Blake.

“Thanks, bro,” she snapped. “Now that we’re done with the welcome wagon, there are other things that we need to discuss.”

At some point she was going to muster up the guts to give Bellamy hell for those comments, but this was not the time for personal grievances. Not when their friends were still trapped inside the mountain.

“Lexa will be here any minute,” Octavia spoke. “Raven is probably on her way as well.”

How the hell did they arrange things that fast? There was no way that her best friend had called the other women before greeting her. Octavia was way too surprised to see her to have contacted anyone. So how did that even work?

“Lexa has your scent,” Bellamy saw Clarke’s confused look. “She and I made sure that you would be found as soon as possible. She’d have smelled you by now.”

Gross. Werewolves were so damn weird. She was kind of creeped out by Lexa having her scent - did that mean that Lexa could find her anywhere she went? It was bad enough that Bellamy could pick her out of a crowd just with his nose.

“Awesome,” Clarke sighed. “And Raven?”

She was still concerned that Raven wouldn’t even want to talk to her. And yes, Clarke was still so very sorry about the whole Finn situation, but there were lives at stake here. If Raven still couldn’t put her personal feelings aside for a moment, they were never going to get shit done!

“Lexa’s got her,” Octavia waved off Clarke’s concerns. “We developed a system. Now, just tell us what happened to you. Anything that might help.”

There was so much to tell them, and she wondered if there was anything that she needed to say before Lexa and Raven arrived. It seemed that so much had happened to everyone over the course of just a few days.

“You were wrong about Murphy,” she directed her first words at Bellamy. “He carried me down the mountain so I wouldn’t hurt myself trying to escape. He and Roma and Maya were godsends, but there are still way too many people inside that mountain. I saw Monty - he was mostly okay, but Harper was not doing too well.”

They were running out of time, except now they had more information about operations inside the mountain, especially with Maya and Roma still inside, gathering intel that they would pass on through Murphy. He’d sworn he wasn’t going back in, but he happily ran up and down the mountain relaying messages - at least, that was what he said he’d do. For her. For them.

“Is Clarke back?” Lexa came running, Raven right on her heels. “I see she is. I smelled her and brought Raven over as agreed.”

Luckily, Lexa didn’t move in for what would have been the world’s most awkward hug, but Raven stepped closer and took Clarke’s hand. She didn’t yell or judge or even look at Clarke angrily. Could she truly be forgiven?

“I am glad you’re okay,” Raven said. “But we have bigger problems right now. No one has seen Finn since his night of violent interrogations at Walden.”

Night of violent interrogations? That did not sound too good. And at Walden? How did Finn even know about that place, and how could he even get there? Unless he had someone there to show him the way, he never should have gotten to Walden.

What the hell had happened while she was gone?

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The explanation had not made things better. Everything Raven told her about what Finn had done over the last few days had made her sick. Clarke had done nothing that required this sickening level of devotion. And yet he’d tortured, threatened, and perhaps even killed in her name.

How could she ever be okay with that?

It had been a few days since his latest exploits, and he hadn’t been seen in that long. She knew deep down that the chances of finding him alive were not particularly good, but she didn’t want to believe her gut. She wanted to believe in redemption and happy endings for just a little while. Because sometimes things did end up okay. Maybe it would be this time.

Only it wasn’t.

They found Finn in the locker room in her old high school. The walls were painted with blood, spelling out her name: CLARKE. She wasn’t one to have a weak stomach, but she almost lost the little bit of food she’d eaten.

That was not the worst part though.

The worst part? The bodies strewn carelessly around him as he tried to trace another word on the wall, painted with their life’s blood. Some were old, some were middle-aged, some were so very young. Others were fighters, weapons in hand, while others were clearly innocents. So many deaths.

“Finn,” she called out, trying to make him snap out of this.

He turned around slowly, as if he could hardly believe that he was hearing her voice, as if he could hardly believe that she was really there with him.

“Clarke?” his eyes widened and then his mouth curled into a fanged smile.

_Oh no._

Damn it, she was so desperately hoping that they’d gotten here in time. But would him being human really make things better? If he’d remained a normal human, they’d have to hand him over to the police - there was no way that Raven could let that happen. As it was, her friend had to be held up by Lexa’s werewolf strength.

This was not something that magic could fixe. Magic couldn’t bring any of these people back from the dead.

“What have you done?” she cried, wanting to scream at him, to lash out.

“You’re back,” Finn didn’t even seem to hear her words of confusion and concern. “I knew these evil creatures had taken you. But I made them bring you back.”

He’d completely lost it. Somehow her disappearance had been the catalyst for a complete mental breakdown, and him being turned had only amplified his madness. There was only one right thing to do, but could she do it? Could she really do that?

“He must die,” Lexa had made her decision. “He has injured my people and killed innocents. This man cannot be allowed to live by the rules of our alliance.”

Some of Lexa’s people had been killed for much less heinous crimes. After all of the lives Finn had taken - so far she counted at least a dozen dead here - there was no way back. The old Finn was never coming back; a demon had come into his body and taken over. Clarke just wasn’t sure whether it was the physical demon of vampirism or the invisible demon most people knew as mental illness. All she knew is what she had to do next.

“Clarke, you can’t!” Raven tried to reach for her.

Lexa purposefully stepped in Raven’s way, nodding solemnly at Clarke. The pack leader was giving her a moment to get the job done. Raven was probably going to hate her even more after this, but what else was there to do?

She had to hunt those who hunted others.

“Finn,” she smiled tremulously at him, hiding her stake behind her back.

“I knew you’d come back to me,” he smiled, and his teeth were stained with blood.

Still she maintained the hint of a smile, trying not to spook him before it was too late. One step, and then another, until he was once again within touching distance. It had been so different last time. How did Finn go from her normal choice to her unliving nightmare? Maybe it was best that she didn’t bother with normality any longer.

“Yes, I came back,” she muttered soothingly, getting a good grip on her weapon.

“Just do it, Clarke,” he swayed on his feet as he closed his eyes. “Just kill me.”

Her fingers couldn’t get the right grip on her stake, and Finn’s last moments of sanity were slipping through his fingers ever so quickly. There was no time.

“Just like this,” Finn grabbed her arm with ice cold fingers. “Tell Raven I’m sorry.”

Clarke tried not to tremble too much as she shifted her grip on her stake once again and thrust it straight into Finn’s heart.

“Thank you,” he whispered, and she realized she was crying.

Even if she lived to become eighty or ninety years old, she was never going to forget the sigh of relief Finn expelled before his once so solid body turned to dust.

“No!” Raven’s scream was heartwrenching.

Clarke let her arms drop to her side, her stake clattering to the ground. It wasn’t like she was ever going to be able to use that particular weapon again. It was forever tainted by this moment in this room, with blood staining her shoes and her legs threatening to give out on her.

It was then that Bellamy and Octavia found them. They’d been looking for Finn elsewhere, somewhere in the woods - that was where the second trail appeared to lead. Clearly that had been Finn’s attempt at misdirection.

“What happened?” Bellamy charged in, his weapon at the ready.

“She killed him!” Raven was hysterical. “She killed him!”

It was only Lexa who kept Raven from charging at Clarke, and to Bellamy and Octavia the pandemonium might have seemed odd. Octavia was just noticing the bodies, staring at the message on the wall in abject horror, while Bellamy’s first instinct appeared to be to reach for Clarke.

_No._

She could not let that happen. She could not let Bellamy hold her up, could not have him be her rock. She had to be her own rock at this point because this was all on her. She killed Finn, and her name was written in blood. At least part of the blame for these deaths was on her shoulders.

Finn was her shot at normal, and he was gone. So why should she bother with love now? Why would she let Bellamy make up for his thoughtless comments when there was never going to be a real chance for them? No, love was weakness - she saw how it was tearing Raven apart and Clarke was sure this was never going to happen to her. She would not allow it.

No more weakness. Clarke would be more like Lexa. No more emotions, just the truth.

“I’m leaving,” she announced, holding her head up high.

“I will escort you,” Lexa seemed to sense the shift in her. “Vampires still roam.”

Octavia took over Raven-duties, and Lexa stepped up, standing next to Clarke as if it was normal for the wolf pack leader to defer to a simple hunter girl. And maybe for now, it was.

“Clarke!” Bellamy did not want to watch her leave.

“Let it go, Bell,” Octavia knew what was up. “This is not the time. We have a lot of things to do before the police find this crime scene. Starting with the name on the wall. It has to go.”

She kept a straight face as she walked out of the locker room, trying not to crumble as she watched her shoes leave bloodstained footprints on the pristine hallway floor.

Five minutes later she had Lexa pressed up against the wall of the teacher’s lounge. Lust and friction, that she could feel. That she wanted to feel.

Love was weakness.

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Just because she was making out with Lexa these days - and oh, God, Lexa had a great mouth for _everything_ \- did not mean that she actually trusted her. Clarke was not that stupid. The alliance was still tenuous, and even more so after Finn.

If Raven wasn’t actively sabotaging the alliance with the pack, she used those sneaky comments or small magic tricks to make it appear as if Lexa had done something that broke the rules of their pact. Clarke was almost paranoid at this point.

But it seemed as if she had cause to be, because Lexa did not have their best interests at heart if she was meeting Cage Wallace, also known as the biggest pain in their ass. He was in charge of the operation that had so many young wolves and humans locked up in cages inside the mountain - the number of wolves had grown exponentially as of late. Clearly mere human blood was not doing the trick anymore - and wolf blood was a rare delicacy.

So why would Lexa risk meeting with the man who’d given the order to imprison and kill her people? To trade with him, of course. To make a deal that was certainly not going to benefit Clarke and her people.

As a leader, she almost understood the decision. She understood the desire to see her people safe - she shared it. There was not a lot she would not do to keep Octavia and Bellamy and the coven and the hunters safe - but there were more individuals that belonged to her people.

Clarke’s people were the humans, the innocents, and the kind ones - Clarke’s people were those who could not protect themselves. And that was why she never could make this deal.

“The terms are simple,” Cage Wallace’s voice actually made Clarke’s skin crawl. “You go along with the Slayer’s big plan. As soon as they break into the mountain, you and your people will depart - all your people. I promise to release every single wolf in my custody.”

The pale vampire had not noticed her yet. Clarke had made sure to wear clothes that were new and did not yet carry her smell - okay, so she’d taken some gym clothes from Indra’s lost and found box. Indra knew about her concerns, and she’d advised constant vigilance. Clarke had promised not to tell anyone else until she was sure of a betrayal. If Lexa took this deal, Clarke would be very sure.

“What do you want with the Slayer pack?” Lexa had clearly picked up on Clarke’s terminology.

The pale man paced, and Clarke’s heart pounded as the vampire appeared to smell something in the air. She held her breath, waiting, trying not to get dizzy as she couldn’t take in the fresh forest air until Cage stopped sniffing for intruders.

Finally Lexa drew his attention again and Clarke could breathe, trying not to make too much sound as her body protested to being without oxygen for so long. She watched closely as Cage grinned evilly at Lexa, clearly aware of what he was asking her to do.

“You see, my wolf friend,” Cage enunciated the word friend so crisply that Clarke shivered, “I am merely thinking of the well-being of my people. Such a pesky little thing like sunlight should not be able to stop us from leaving our mountain. Science has found us a cure, and there are certain people that have traits that makes their blood extremely effective.”

Of course it was blood. These guys were vampires - everything was related to blood for them. So it made sense for the cure to require blood as well. It was no cure to vampirism, because Cage Wallace seemed to like his power and strength all too well, but it was a cure to some of his condition’s down sides. And there were already far too few of those. Hunters needed the sunlight to get rid of vampires snacking on the population.

“Like the Slayer,” Lexa pretended to understand.

“Like your friend’s coven,” Cage Wallace corrected. “Magic users are even more special - true magic users have a gift beyond waving wands and speaking spells. They are our permanent cure.”

So that meant that the cure they were currently using was temporary. Was that why they needed so many humans? Was that why they kept them in cages instead of draining them dry on the first go?

They could still be stopped. It was not too late to stop the Mountain Men. But they needed Lexa, needed her numbers to get inside the mountain. The plan didn’t stand too much of a chance without the help of the pack.

“You will guarantee my people’s safety?” Lexa still showed no emotions.

“Unless they directly attack me and mine,” Cage Wallace held up a hand in a mock oath, “I swear not to hurt a single one of your wolves.”

He was obviously making a mockery of the process, and Lexa was brimming with fury from the perceived slight on her people.

“For how long?” Lexa had noticed that there was a catch to this deal.

“You’re a clever one,” Cage actually smiled. “My father was right about you. I can’t promise unlimited immunity. Your wolves will breed, and my numbers will soon multiply. I can promise you a year without any… interference from my people.”

A year of immunity, and all Lexa had to do was betray Clarke’s trust and leave her people to die. It seemed simple enough. Just one agreement and she’d be safe for another year. It would give her time to strengthen the pack - she just had to stab Clarke and her friends in the back for it. Easy as pie.

So it was only a matter of making arrangements now. Lexa was going to betray her - Clarke was watching it all come together, and the ensuing anger fueled her. She stayed completely still, trying to hear every single detail about this that she could report to her own pack. They were going to need all the help they could get now.

“Five years,” Lexa bargained, completely calm.

“Two years,” Cage replied.

“Four,” Lexa didn’t fold easy.

Well then, the compromise was looking easy at that point. Lexa was ready to take the deal without another thought for what it would do to her allies. Had she even considered how this would tear her own cousin apart? Lincoln and Octavia were in love, even though they were both too scared to say the words. They loved fiercely and all too well, and Lexa would seek to take that from them - love was weakness after all.

Could Clarke really believe that now? She held no love for Lexa, just grudging respect - not even trust. If Lexa loved her, she wouldn’t have betrayed her. Or would she have?

“Three then,” Cage Wallace grinned, showing Lexa his fangs - probably on purpose.

“Three years of immunity,” Lexa spoke. “For every one of my people. And all I have to do is give you the Slayer Pack. Nothing more.”

Lexa’s unemotional voice outlining the terms was hard to hear for Clarke. She’d heard that voice whispering filthy things in bed; she’d heard that same voice as Lexa actually laughed at a stupid joke Clarke had told her. She probably wouldn’t hear either of those again - she wouldn’t want to. Not after this.

“Very well then,” Lexa barely even hesitated. “I agree to this deal.”

There was no shaking of hands, of course. Blood had to be shed for this proposed deal to become a reality. It was always blood.

For a second, Clarke considered waiting around for Lexa to pass her way so that she could confront her, so she could ask her why she did it. But then she realized that she already knew: Lexa put logic above all feelings, and her own pack above everything and everyone else. Clarke was not a part of her pack, and so Lexa had no problems with handing her over to the Mountain Men.

It was just that simple.

Clarke still waited, trying to make sure that Cage or Lexa would not find her hiding spot - she could not afford to move until they were both several minutes away. So she was very still, and she let her mind do all the work.

There had to be some way to do this without Lexa’s pack.

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There wasn’t a way to do this without Lexa’s pack.

She’d gone over it a dozen times with Octavia and Bellamy, and then another dozen times with Indra and Raven present as well. No one had a solution.

Yet, they’d journeyed to the mountain, together with Lexa’s pack, giving the impression that their alliance was still on. They had to - it was the only way they could even get close enough to the mountain that still held most of their friends.

Murphy had passed on the message to Roma and Maya, and they’d instructed Monty and Wick to get their own army ready. They knew all the basics about killing vampires, and they’d had some time to prepare - they had to be ready,because there was simply no other option.

“We’re fucked,” Murphy almost slid down the mountain. “Roma is dead.”

What? How? How did it happen? How did they even find her? Did Maya betray them? Did someone find Roma? What the hell was happening inside the mountain?

Shit, they really couldn’t afford to have anything else go wrong at this point. And now they were down another ally - they didn’t have any to spare.

This was not going to end well.

“Where’s Maya?” Clarke tried to put things back on track.

“She can’t come out,” Murphy rolled his eyes. “Sun’s rising soon. Speaking of - good luck with the whole thing. I’m out of here before I bite the dust.”

While the asshole did have a point in trying to save his own ass, Clarke was hoping that someone was ready to step up at this point. They needed more than their small army of four and a force of hunters in the tunnels. Lexa knew about the tunnels, and she’d sent in her own team - surely she did not know the details of Clarke’s mother and how she had entire teams of hunters at her beck and call.

“And fuck you too, Murphy!” she belatedly shouted after him.

No, Abby Griffin was not one to trifle with. That was why, when Clarke found out Lexa would betray them at the mountain, Clarke had called her mother and the other hunters in as reinforcements. They needed the manpower - and they needed Abigail Griffin’s sway over the hunter community.

And maybe Clarke was reminded of how much she did love her mother when Abby Griffin embraced her tightly the second she saw her. They were each other’s only blood relations, after all. The only two Griffins left standing.

God, she missed her father.

But this was not the time for that. This was the time to stay focused so that they could get their friends out of this place alive. There was no time to remember the few good times with Lexa before she betrayed her - there was no time to consider her fractured friendship with Raven after the Finn situation. There was never enough time.

“Time to go,” Octavia squeezed Clarke’s hand ever so briefly.

“Everyone ready?” Bellamy stood right at her side, a loyal knight.

It seemed like everything paused for a second as Clarke stopped to survey their troops. What was left of Raven’s coven was prepared to fight, and Miller cradled his crossbow tightly, ready to shoot at the first vamp to appear. Lexa’s people appeared tense - if she hadn’t known the cause, she would have attributed it to concern over the outcome of the upcoming battle. But she did know better.

“We’re ready,” Clarke turned to Lexa. “You can leave now. You got us this far. I’m sure Wallace will consider this you doing your part.”

Yes, she actually saw a flicker of surprise on Lexa’s face before the other woman managed to get a hold on her emotions. She really hadn’t known that Clarke was onto her - which was the best news Clarke had had all day.

“May we meet again, Clarke of the hunter pack,” Lexa spoke calmly.

She turned away without another word, walking away from the mountain with her troops following behind her. It took less than a minute until they were alone again, still facing the gigantic mountain.

“Let’s hope Monty and Wick did as they promised,” Clarke muttered, slightly terrified.

“Monty never breaks a promise,” the response came from Miller, not from Raven as she’d expected. “He’ll be ready.”

Maybe she’d just missed their bonding moment, but she never knew that Miller and Monty had any kind of interaction. It couldn’t have happened while she was taken - she was with Monty during that time. Well, not the time to consider that now.

“Your dad will help,” Bellamy was already reassuring Miller.

“Are we ready?” one of the coven’s younger members asked doubtingly.

“We are,” Lincoln stepped in, the sole member of the wolf pack still present. “Because we have to be. We fall down, we get back up.”

Damn, Octavia was super lucky to have landed him. He actually chose them over his own family, over his pack. Even if it was the last thing she did, Clarke was going to make sure that no matter what happened between him and Octavia, Lincoln would always have a place with the Slayer pack.

“Let’s go to work,” Clarke grinned solemnly.

So maybe this would be her last battle. Maybe this was supposed to be her time. But if it was, she was going to take out as many of these asshole vamps as she could. Her stake at the ready, Clarke eyed the approaching vampires carefully, just waiting to see what their first move was going to be.

Not everyone was as patient. Miller’s crossbow was locked and loaded, and when the first vamps got in range, Miller lined up his shot and watched the first arrow fly - straight into some unfortunate vamp’s chest. He turned to dust on the spot.

The battle had begun.

For every one of them, there were at least a dozen, if not more, vampires. The odds were definitely not in their favor, but they’d make do. They’d slay, and maybe the surprise of the army inside the mountain would be the decisive factor. Or her mom and the hunters would be - either way, they had help and they had plans. There was nothing else to do but fight.

Clarke had her stakes ready - all of them. She had some up her sleeve - she liked her party tricks from time to time, and some more in her belt. Sure, she had her fighting training, but she was still only human.

She didn’t want to die.

Methodically dispatching vampires proved to be a great distraction from morbid thoughts, and she was thrilled to find that the stakes up her sleeves had been a brilliant addition to her usual arsenal. Still, the stream of enemies did not let up.

They were so very outnumbered, and Clarke worried that they wouldn’t even make it to the room where their friends were being held. Something had to be done - someone had to think of a plan and just go for it.

No, wait, she needed to take that back. Everyone should just keep fighting exactly where they were. Any other idea was too dangerous.

Then, Clarke spotted something from the corner of her eyes. Octavia started moving and that terrified Clarke. It seemed as if Octavia was going to try the old plan. And there was a very good reason why that plan had been dismissed: it was basically suicide. Octavia was never going to be able to do it on her own - not without Lexa’s forces.

Octavia was running up the mountain like the hounds of hell were chasing her, coming dangerously close to falling down - only her Slayer strength keeping her going. She was fast and relatively light on her feet still, even in the midst of battle, even though they were greatly outnumbered. Octavia had not yet given up.

“I’ll hold them off top side!” she shouted back at her friends.

“It’s too dangerous!” Bellamy was ready to follow his sister anywhere.

But before he could move to follow, a couple vamps jumped on him simultaneously, distracting him from protecting his sister, and soon Clarke, too, was occupied. There were just so many of them. It seemed that as soon as she dusted one of these assholes, more took its place.

“Can you get to O?” Bellamy called out to her, sounding desperate. “She can’t pull this off on her own!”

Clarke knew that, and so did Octavia. Everyone knew that attempting to pull off the plan alone was suicide. Damn it, Octavia!

“I can’t,” she shouted desperately. “I’m a little busy here, if you can’t tell!”

They needed Lexa’s people for this. Even then it was a desperate gambit, but it was way less so when they had a pack of wolves ready to help with this part.

So many vampires were out here, so many of them without that pesky sunlight allergy that the humans relied on to get any sort of edge over these creatures. How many humans had died so that these vamps could get a damn tan?

Clarke had voted against blowing the top off the mountain - the risk of casualties on their side was far too great. Lexa had been all for it, to no one’s surprise. The fact that Octavia was going to try that now was almost beyond her comprehension.

Especially now that Cage Wallace was right fucking there. He had made his way up the mountain even faster than Octavia had, and he was just waiting for her to make the first move, grinning as the sun bore down on his pale skin. Clarke mentally pleaded with her best friend, trying to keep her from risking everything.

But she was too far away from Octavia’s battle, and she had her own struggles with the almost unending stream of vampires still coming their way. God, how had these fuckers multiplied that fast? It felt almost like a battle of mythological significance - did a vampire army sprout three new vamps every time someone killed one? Clarke could feel herself tiring, and she knew that mistakes would be made and people were going to start dying.

She never wanted anyone else to die here.

Still, Octavia and Cage stood in the sunlight, appearing to be fighting a battle of wits, until Octavia lunged at the vampire, stake at the ready. And then there was nothing Clarke could do.

Both Bellamy and Lincoln were fighting madly to get away from the crowd of vamps, but it was just no use. None of them would be able to get to her if something happened. Octavia was all alone, battling against Cage Wallace without back-up, just to make a desperate attempt at a dangerous plan.

Clarke was just going through the motions, trying to be as efficient as possible about staking the vamps, all the while trying to keep an eye on Octavia.

Cage Wallace was even more dangerous than they imagined. With just a few blows, he held Octavia up by the neck, his clawlike hands squeezing her throat. Both Bellamy and Lincoln increased their efforts to get to Octavia.

But it was no use. Before any single one of them could make a move in Octavia’s direction, Cage already had his fangs on, and then in, her neck.

This was not happening. Octavia was going to make her move any second now. And she did, grabbing madly at the stake she had hidden in her waistband. Octavia swung back her arm, preparing for the kill, but Cage just smiled bloodily down at Clarke, Bellamy, and Lincoln.

An instant later, he snapped Octavia’s neck.

Everything seemed to turn to white noise. What was even happening? This was not real! Octavia was going to get up any second now.

“ _Octavia_!” Bellamy screamed, scrambling madly to get to his sister.

Clarke’s vision blurred - tears or sweat, she didn’t know - and no matter how many times she blinked, she simply could not see clearly. She just didn’t understand.

Her blurry vision caught Lincoln climbing up rapidly, trying to get to his love. He got there before anyone else, before Bellamy even, and he cradled Octavia in his arms.

The world had stopped turning. Clarke couldn’t even move. How could she do anything? The vamps could have her, for all she cared.

Suddenly Lincoln looked up and rushed off in the opposite direction of the big battle. He disappeared when they needed him more than ever. Damn it, had this just been about Octavia after all?

_Octavia._

Clarke barely managed to close her blurry eyes when a flare of sunlight burned through the room. Somehow, bright rays filled every corner, and Monty and Raven stood right in the center of it all. Or maybe it was not actual sunlight - what the hell did she know about magic anyway? All she knew is that this ball of light was lethal to the vampires.

The vampires who had already been hiding from the rising sun were the first to succumb to the attack, turning to dust within seconds, with barely any time to scream before they were gone for good. Other vampires took longer to burn - those were the ones who’d received at least a little of the treatment.

Across the room, Clarke could see Maya, bathed in her own ray of sunlight, staring in awe at the artificial light. As her body turned to ash, she faced Jasper, smiling as she reached out to cup his cheek. Jasper was trying really hard not to cry as he reached up to grasp her hand - he failed when his hand came away with dust.

Clarke would have been sad, too, were it not that she was just completely numb, watching vampire after vampire burn. Finally, when she was surrounded by clouds of dust, she dragged herself up the mountain, trying to get to Octavia.

Bellamy was there, holding his sister while loud sobs wracked his body. Clarke had to get to them. When she did, and she saw the blood on Octavia’s neck, Clarke felt sick. Her best friend was so pale, and so very still. Why wouldn’t she just move, or breathe, or just get up?

In an unguarded moment, she turned and vomited, her legs still ready to give out.

She collapsed then, right at Bellamy’s side.

Octavia was gone.

**Author's Note:**

> Dalila was one of the wives on the biblical Ark - yes, see, I chose it for a reason. 
> 
> Please let me know what you think!


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